Tour de Yorkshire 2019: Jesper Asselman wins stage one

Dutch rider Jesper Asselman held off the chasing to pack to win the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire after being part of a long-range breakaway.

In cold and wet conditions Asselman won from the fast-closing Filippo Fortin, while Mark Cavendish finished eighth at the end of the Doncaster to Selby race.

Britain's Jacob Hennessy was first to the top of the only climb of the day to claim the King of the Mountains jersey.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome finished back in the pack.

Competing for Team Ineos, in their first race since their official launch switch from Team Sky on Wednesday, Froome steered clear of trouble throughout the 111-mile stage.

However, the 33-year-old and his team-mates were subjected to jeers from protesters who are against Ineos' proposed fracking plans in Yorkshire.

The women's two-stage race starts on Friday with Lizzie Deignan competing in Britain for the first time since giving birth to her daughter seven months ago.

The former world champion finished seventh in last week's Liege-Bastogne-Liege after 23rd in the Amstel Gold Race and 21st in La Fleche Wallone.

Friday's Barnsley to Bedale race will incorporate part of the route around Harrogate that will feature in September's World Road Race Championships, and is the same as the men will tackle in the second of their four stages.

Briton Harry Tanfield won the sprint for the line in 2018 from what was left of a six-man breakaway.

And lightning struck twice as 29-year-old Asselman, one of four riders left from the initially six-strong group to escape in the first 10 miles of the stage, survived the peloton's late charge to claim victory in 2019.

The peloton, which was controlled largely by Team Ineos, reeled in a gap of almost three minutes, but Asselman kept his nerve in a game of brinksmanship with Kevin Vermaerke, Daniel Bigham and Joe Nally on the final sprint.

His effort was almost derailed by the cold, and a spectator's blue and yellow Tour de Yorkshire flag, which got caught on his crossbar as he swerved to the right of the road as he started his sprint for the finish line.

Team Dimension Data's Cavendish, who has missed much of the past two years through illness, was in the chasing pack which crossed the line a fraction of a second later.

"It's the biggest victory of my career," Asselman said. "Last year was a really tough year, I broke my ankle and I was almost the whole year off the bike.

"In the spring, with the one-day classics, I already felt I was really strong but I didn't feel like it was going my way, and I was a little frustrated. That this happened now - I still can't believe it. It's really awesome to start the second part of the season this way.

"It's always an advantage to ride at the front in these types of conditions but it was so cold, I tried to put on an extra jacket but I couldn't do it. I couldn't close the zipper and I'm still shivering like crazy."

Stage one results

General classification after stage one