Stage three – Wakefield to Leeds
Stage three – Wakefield to Leeds
The final stage is lumpy and – like the second stage of last year’s Tour de France – means the stage, and the final destination of the leader’s jersey, is wide open.
The thigh-burning hills include the Cote de Holmfirth (2.9km at 5.5%) and the Cote de Scapegoat Hill (2.2km at 8.3%) before the feed zone.
After the feed zone, the Cote de Hebden Bridge (the longest of the stage, 4.1km at 5.5%) and the short, steep Cote de Goose Eye (1.3km at 10%) should cause further splits.
The Cote de Cow and Calf (1.8km at 8%) and Cote de Chevin (1.4km at 10.3%) completes the day’s ascending, and Downing says it is hard to pick just one decisive climb.
“The obvious key climbs are the likes of the Cow and Calf, the steeper ones that will be hard. But I think just the sheer amount of climbing on that stage is going to take its toll,” he said.
“It’s 3,000m of climbing in the day, and that’s a lot in 170km. The roads too, they will be quite dead roads around there and it’s going to be quite lumpy.
“I wouldn’t like to say which will be decisive, but with a lot of the climbs dropping back down and then coming straight back up again, it’s going to be tough.
“I know the Cow and Calf, though, I’ve done it before at the Tour of Britain and that is quite open at the top again too.”
Swift adds: “After the first climb up Holmfirth, the hills come thick and fast.
“They may not all be that hard but the succession of them will make it a really tough day, plus the weather could always be a factor on the hills, because they’re exposed.
“It’s another day for Classics riders. I’d expect Greg Van Avermaet to be up there, hopefully with me!”
Downing, too, is backing his fellow white rose man saying: “Swifty’s obviously put a bit of focus on this Tour of Yorkshire being a local boy.
“We’ve seen how he was climbing at Milan-San Remo and races like that so if he’s good then yeah, it would be nice to see him win it – if I can’t do a ride myself! But there are some good riders coming over so it will definitely be a massive race.”
Where to watch
Hebden Bridge was a popular spot during the Tour de France, a scenic town which created a wall of noise for the peloton’s arrival. For Swift, however, the place to be is Holmfirth. “[It’s] a stunning village surrounded by amazing countryside,” he says, adding: “To be honest, it’s Yorkshire, so it’ll all be beautiful.”