Thomas Voeckler Up for Defence in Yorkshire

DEFENDING Tour de Yorkshire champion Thomas Voeckler might not be in peak condition but the Frenchman is banking on his experience to help him retain his title

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Thomas Voeckler Up for Defence in Yorkshire

By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat

DEFENDING Tour de Yorkshire champion Thomas Voeckler might not be in peak condition but the Frenchman is banking on his experience to help him retain his title in the 2017 edition in his final ride on British soil.

Photo: ASO/Pauline Ballet

The 37-year-old, who famously wore the yellow jersey for 20 days over the 2004 and 2011 Tours de France, will call time on his career after this year’s Grande Boucle and will be hoping to add to last year’s Tour de Yorkshire title in the three-day race that begins in Bridlington on Friday.

The second stage will be the opportunity for the sprinters to shine, with a world class field that includes Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni, winner of three stages on the Giro d’Italia, up-and-comer Caleb Ewan from Australia, and Dutchman Dylan van Groenewegen, who won the opening stage in Yorkshire last year.

Renowned for his maverick style, Voeckler has been a success in Yorkshire where his willingness to attack at every opportunity has often paid dividends.

He claimed the crown a year ago after winning the opening stage, and is expecting a similarly demanding race this year which will feature its hardest stage yet on Sunday between Bradford and Fox Valley near Sheffield.

“My shape isn’t so bad. I’m not 100 percent in terms of my condition but I have the experience of this race,” said Direct-Energie rider Voeckler.

“I know the different roads. My goal is to take pleasure in my last year as a professional in the peloton.

Thomas Voeckler was speaking at Richmond Hill Primary School, a Yorkshire Bank Bike Library in Leeds. For more information on Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries please visit www.ybonline.co.uk/bikelibraries

“I’m really motivated but I also know how difficult it is to ride at the front of this race. Riding the Tour de Yorkshire, you cannot compare to any other race.

“Because the country is different, the atmosphere is different and the crowd, we riders feel the people are really concerned about the race. They are happy to see us race over here. This makes the race a little bit different compared to the others I do all year in other countries.

“It’s special to be in my last season as a professional. Every race I take part in, I know it’s the last time I will take part as a rider. So it’s special but I cannot think about it all the time because I have to focus on the sport.”

Voeckler was speaking at Richmond Hill Primary School where he handed over the 5,000th donated bike to the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries.

The scheme began in 2014 following the Grand Départ in Yorkshire to start the Tour de France, and last year alone 36,000 children were able to ride a bike thanks to the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries.

And for Voeckler, the scheme is the perfect way for all youngsters to learn to ride.

He added: “When they asked me to come and give the 5,000th bike to the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries I said yes immediately because it’s something that stays after the events like the Tour de Yorkshire or the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2014.

“This is something for the kids because not all parents can afford to buy a bike for their kids, and I’m really impressed by 36,000 kids riding bikes thanks to the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries, it’s a really great project and I think it’s a really good thing.

“For young children riding a bike should be a right. It is like swimming, everybody should be able to ride a bike. We can see that’s not the case, so these kinds of schemes like the Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries are really a great thing.”

StartList

DIRECT ENERGIE
1 VOECKLER Thomas
2 CORNU JÉRÉMY
3 GUILLEMOIS ROMAIN
4 HIVERT Jonathan
5 HUREL Tony
6 NAULEAU Bryan
7 QUEMENEUR Perrig
8 SICARD Romain

TEAM SKY
11 STANNARD Ian
12 DIBBEN Jonathan
13 GEOGHEGAN-HART Tao
14 KNEES Christian
15 ROWE Luke
16 VAN POPPEL Danny

COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
21 BOUHANNI Nacer
22 PEREZ Anthony
23 ROSSETTO Stéphane
24 SOUPE GEOFFREY
25 TURGIS Anthony
26 TURGIS Jimmy
27 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas
28 VENTURINI Clément

ORICA – SCOTT
31 EWAN Caleb
32 DOCKER Mitchell
33 HAYMAN Mathew
34 KLUGE Roger
35 NIELSEN Magnus Cort
36 TUFT Svein

BMC RACING TEAM
41 BOOKWALTER Brent
42 GERTS Floris
43 MOINARD Amaël
44 QUINZIATO Manuel
45 ROSSKOPF Joseph
46 SCOTSON Miles

TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
51 KRUIJSWIJK Steven
52 CLEMENT Stef
53 GROENEWEGEN Dylan
54 JANSEN Amund Grondal
55 KEIZER Martijn
56 LAMMERTINK Steven
57 LEEZER Tom
58 VAN HOECKE Gijs

AQUA BLUE SPORT
61 BLYTHE Adam
62 BRAMMEIER Matthew
63 CHRISTIAN Mark
64 DUNNE Conor
65 FENN Andrew
66 PEARSON Daniel
67 WARBASSE Larry

TEAM DIMENSION DATA
71 PAUWELS Serge
72 EISEL Bernhard
73 FRAILE Omar
74 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
75 O’CONNOR Ben
76 SBARAGLI Kristan
77 THWAITES Scott
78 VAN ZYL Johann

MADISON GENESIS
81 HOLMES Matt
82 CRONSHAW Matt
83 GUNMAN Taylor Karl
84 HANDLEY Richard
85 HORTON Tobyn
86 MC EVOY Jonathan
87 ROWSELL Erick
88 SWIFT Connor

TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN
91 LAMMERTINK Maurits
92 BIERMANS Jenthe
93 HALLER Marco
94 HOLLENSTEIN Reto
95 KISERLOVSKI Robert
96 MACHADO Tiago
97 PLANCKAERT Baptiste
98 SCHMIDT Mads Würtz

TEAM SUNWEB
101 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh
102 HAMILTON Christopher
103 HOFSTEDE Lennard
104 SKJOESTAD LUNKE Sindre
105 TIMMER Albert
106 WALSCHEID Maximilian

ONE PRO CYCLING
111 DOMAGALSKI Karol
112 GRADEK Kamil
113 HOUSE Kristian
114 HUNT Joshua
115 MCCORMICK Hayden
116 STEWART Tom
117 VON HOFF Steele
118 WILLIAMS Peter

DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM
121 FINETTO Mauro
122 COMBAUD Romain
123 EL FARES Julien
124 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio
125 HUPOND Thierry
126 MADRAZO Angel
127 PACHER Quentin
128 SMUKULIS Gatis

JLT CONDOR
131 DOWNING Russell
132 BIBBY Ian
133 FRAME Alex
134 GULLEN James
135 JONES Brenton
136 LAMPIER Steve
137 MOSES Thomas
138 SLATER Alistair

TEAM RALEIGH GAC
141 GROENDAHL JANSEN Amund
142 HAVIK Yoeri
143 KENWAY Adam
144 MARTIN Frazer
145 MORA VEDRI Sebastian
146 MORENO SALA Adria
147 PERRY Ryan
148 ROBBINS Tristan

ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ
151 WEENING Pieter
152 LOOIJ André
153 MEIJERS Jeroen
154 REINDERS Elmar
155 TUSVELD Martijn
156 VAN DER LIJKE Nicky
157 VAN EMPEL Etienne
158 VAN GINNEKEN Sjoerd

BIKE CHANNEL CANYON
161 GARDIAS Dexter
162 LOWSLEY-WILLIAMS James
163 OPIE Chris
164 PARTRIDGE Robert
165 PULLAR Jack
166 STEDMAN Max
167 TANFIELD Harry
168 TOWNSEND Rory

GREAT BRITAIN
171 BOSTOCK Matthew
172 MORA Sebastian
173 CAM Florian
174 ALHAMMADI Sultan
175 KNOX James
176 LAWLESS Christopher
177 IBRAHIM Khalid
178 WALKER Joey

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