The 2nd Tour de Yorkshire stage would eventually come down to the expected bunch sprint with Moreno Hofland (Lotto-Jumbo) taking the victory. Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) was 2nd with Ramon Sinkledam (Giant-Alpecin) 3rd. MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had both Andy Stauff and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg in the mix, crossing the line in 8th and 11th respectively.
The days racing would see none other than Matt Brammeier jumping into the 8 rider breakaway for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung. Matt and his fellow escapees fought hard to establish a lead close to 7 minutes. Team Sky assumed the chase early on to protect their GC lead.
With the race ending with a couple of circuits around York, the sprinters teams were always expected to come to the fore, and they did. LottoNL-Jumbo took hold of the reigns as we approached town and really clawed back at the break. Matt and his fellow breakaway companions could feel the pressure and started attacking one another with 25km to go.
The sprinters teams would prove too much for the break though and by the final km it was all together. Not even a late attack in the final km by Greg van Avermaet (BMC) could stop Hofland from winning. Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung were riding to set up Gerald Ciolek and Reinie for the finish but it was Andy who got his first top 10 result of the year while Reinie was 11th.
Matt Brammeier – Rider
Andy Stauff – Rider
