Huddersfield's Gabriel Cullaigh has promised to learn from his baptism of fire at the Tour de Yorkshire after rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s best road cyclists.
And Ed Clancy has spoken of his disappointment after giving up during the gruelling third day through Huddersfield – with the six hill climbs proving too much for a non hill climber.
Cullaigh finished 42nd during the third stage in Yorkshire as riders left Wakefield and headed through Huddersfield, Meltham and the Colne Valley on Sunday, before tackling daunting routes in Calderdale and on to a finish in Leeds.
It gave the Huddersfield rider, competing for the British team, a 52nd place finish overall in the general classification and plenty to build on going forward.
Norwegian Lars Petter Nordhaug clinched the overall victory for Team Sky in the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire.
The 30-year-old finished safely to take the win by 11 seconds from Samuel Sanchez and Thomas Voeckler. The final stage was won by BMC’s Ben Hermans, who claimed a great solo win after a demanding 167km, which included six climbs from Wakefield to Leeds.
Watch Gabz Cullaigh fly through his home town of New Mill
Cullaigh said: “It was pretty tough. I kept well positioned for the main climbs, but the last few it was just a case of hanging on, hanging on to the front of a group – Sky were riding pretty hard.
“I think this race has been everything we hoped for and more. The crowds have been amazing, the racing’s been great and I’ve just been enjoying every single minute of it – despite it hurting, it’s still been great!
“I hope to come back next year and the year after, be stronger and hopefully challenge for some stage wins or go up there in the GC.
“This is my first senior year so I’ve got a few more years to get up there. I am definitely learning from these races, seeing how Sky ride and how other different World Tour teams deal with how Sky ride – you learn a lot from just watching that.
“Even though you’re swinging up the climbs, you still notice what they’re doing – it’s all definitely a big learning experience.”
Comparatively it was a less impressive weekend for Huddersfield rider Ed Clancy, riding for Rapha Condor.
He said: “That last stage there was pretty grim. Everyone knew it was going to be tough and it went according to the script, a hard day from start to finish.
“After Holmfirth, even sitting in the bunch became quite a challenge. Sky were setting a fairly steady tempo, but the terrain was tough and for a non-climber to get through a race like this was really hard.
“I think I was the only non-finisher, actually, and I’m disappointed about that, but until 70km to go I couldn’t have had any complaints myself. I’d have liked to have made it through but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“The crowd has been unbelievable. Every rider I spoke to in the race, whether they are from Britain or abroad, was impressed with the crowd.
“It has been lined with people the whole way round and it’s quite something. With a turnout like this it’s highly likely that big UCI ranked stage races are going to be around for a while yet.
“I’ve ridden the Tour of Britain, and although cycling has come on since then in terms of popularity, the crowd size has been bigger than anything I’ve ever seen before.
“It’s a reflection of how cycling is doing in this country – who’d have thought this ten years ago? It doesn’t feel like a minority sport anymore.”
Yorkshire Bank is an Official Partner of the Tour de Yorkshire and the ground-breaking Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative. Visit www.ybonline.co.uk
