Magnus Cort Nielsen climbed to victory when he won stage two of Tour de Yorkshire in Ilkley yesterday.
Magnus Cort Nielsen won the second stage of Tour de Yorkshire, which took place between Barnsley and Ilkley yesterday. Photo: SWpix.com
The Astana Pro rider finished the 149km stage from Barnsley in 3:25:34 to beat BMC’s Greg van Avermaet and Euskadi Basque Country-Murias’ Eduard Prades Reverter.
The race was all together up the final climb (Cow and Calf) to the finish line. Nielsen, who was led out by a teammate, timed his effort perfectly to take the stage win from race favourite Van Avermaet.
“I was looking at Van Avermaet and I thought he was the man to beat,” said Nielsen
“I was just hoping for no big attacks and that I could get myself inside 150 metres to open up”.
The 25-year-old said it was a tough stage and that he actually thought the finish would be too hard for him, but thanks to the team believing in him, he could succeed with the victory.
“It is always very special to win. I have to thank the team for believing in me.”
Nielsen, who hails from Denmark, now leads the overall standings in 7:33:41 ahead of Van Avermaet (Belgium) and Prades Reverter (Spain).
The results were as follows.
Stage two
1. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 3:25:34
2. Greg van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
3. Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
4. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
5. Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie +0:05
6. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
8. Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
9. Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin +0:11
10. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
*Selected
73. Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data +4:20
90. Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data +9:27
General classification
1. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 7:33:41
2. Greg van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team +0:04
3. Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias +0:06
4. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data +0:10
5. Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling +0:15
6. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
8. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team +0:21
9. Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
10. Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
*Selected
76. Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data +6:40
104. Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data +9:37
