Pros on Bikes – Yorkshire Inspired by Tour de France 2014 Creates Own Race

Madison Genesis is pleased that their team has progressed a lot this year and will be a formidable contender in the Tour de Yorkshire on Friday.

As the Tour de Yorkshire debuts tomorrow, Lotto NL-Jumbo, BMC and Madison Genesis have divulged the names of its team members. The 2.1 stage race will last three days. It was created by ASO, after the success of last year’s 21 stage Tour de France, which commenced in Yorkshire. The novelty feature will be that riders will race on the roads mostly missed by the grand Tour de France last year.

Tour de Yorkshire will start in Bridlington and finish in Leeds on Sunday. Non-professional cyclists can also participate in their own way by taking part in the Tour de Yorkshire Ride, organized by Human Race. This is a mass participation bike ride. It promises to be both challenging and popular. It will take place before the pro race on the morning of the final day, Sunday 3rd May, with thousands expected to join in.

LottoNL-Jumbo sees Tour de Yorkshire as stepping stone to access Giro d’Italia

Lotto NL-Jumbo is preparing its riders for the Giro d’Italia next month and sees the Tour de Yorkshire as a warm up race. Nico Verhoeven, the sports director of LottoNL-Jumbo, said “It will be a beautiful race. There was a lot of attention from the press during the British stages at the start of last year’s Tour the France. That resulted in the first edition of the Tour de Yorkshire this year”.

He continued saying that “With the Giro d’Italia to come, this is a nice race for us to ride. Moreno Hofland and Steven Kruijswijk are able to put the final touches on their preparations. It’s perfect, and better to race three days instead of six hard days with a strong field in the Tour de Romandie”. On UK sports betting sites, the Giro d’Italia is a big favorite to win major money.

Although LottoNL-Jumbo, to date, remains the only World Tour team who has so far been unsuccessful in winning any races this year, it hopes that by putting Moreno Hofland up front, he can ride the way to victory for the club. Hofland himself commented that “This will be one of the first races in a long time that suits me well. I’m really looking forward to it. I think that there will be a big crowd on the roads”.

Cycling fever

According to UK gambling news, Hofland expresses hope that he would win the race spurred on by the Yorkshire population who has got the cycling fever. He said “I will try to fight for stage victories. My form is good at the moment, but I haven’t been in a bunch sprint for a while. I’m curious to see what will happen”. As Hofland concentrates on stage wins, the team hopes to nip a place in the general classification.

According to Verhoeven, it seems despite this fervent hope, there won’t be any major pressure on the teams cyclists. Punters are placing their bets on young riders like Nick van der Lijke and Timo Roosen. Verhoeven confided that “We will race for the win though. Steven should be able to deliver a good general classification, but the other riders will have their chance to go for that, to” .

He continued with “We will do the best we can for Moreno in the sprints. It’s tough to assess how hard the race will be, but I’m sure that two of the stages should suit Moreno”. But Lotto NL-Jumbo is not the only one hoping for a win. Another participant, BMC will also show off its talent at the Tour de Yorkshire. It has a solid team lined up that is ready for a challenge in all 2 stages as well as the general classification (2.1).

BMC and Madison Genesis rearing to go too

UK bettors are taking advantage of UK gambling laws to bet on pro bike BMC faves like Greg Van Avermaet, Samuel Sánchez, Jempy Drucker, Klaas Lodewyck, Joey Rosskopf and Dylan Teuns, that they hope will lead the way to victory. However, Ben Hermans, who won the De Brabantse Pijl, could be the one to bring BMC fame while neo-pro Rick Zabel may just be the bunch sprinter to bet your money on.

Also in the race will be Madison Genesis, who named its eight-rider team for the Tour de Yorkshire. They include New Zealander Tom Scully who came third in the Tour de Normandie. Tom Stewart, the winner of the CiCLE Classic, has also been selected for the race. Roger Hammond, Team manager, pointed out that “We’ve been really looking forward to the Tour de Yorkshire for a long time now. Selecting the final eight riders has been very difficult, but in a good way.”

In any case, if the support of the Yorkshire crowds during the Tour de France 2014 debut is anything to go by, the Tour de Yorkshire crowd will be sure to be rooting even more vivaciously for their very own race. The Tour de France 2015 will start out at Utrecht in the Netherlands, in just over 8 weeks, and every bookmaker’s dream is about to be realized.