Pro cyclists pedalled their way through the scenic county of Yorkshire over the bank holiday weekend to take part in one of the biggest and most exciting cycling events.<a href="http://letour.yorkshire.com/" target="_blank">The Tour de Yorkshire,</a> which took place between Friday 28 April and Sunday 30 April, brought some of the world's top cycling names together and thousands of spectators, who lined the 304-mile course to catch a glimpse of them. The women's Tour de Yorkshire race, which was sponsored by <a href="http://letour.yorkshire.com/women-tdy-teams" target="_blank">Asda</a>, took place on Saturday morning and saw riders pedal 76 miles from Tadcaster to Harrogate.And on the day it was Yorkshire superstar Lizzie Deignan (née Armitstead), who broke away from the pack to be crowned the winner in her home county. The Otley-born champ started gaining pace with 14km of the 122.5km route to go speeding past Britain's Dani King and Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen.<center><img alt="lizzie_wins_tour_de_yorkshire" class="ci-image ci-original" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/lizzie_wins_tour_de_yorkshire_GL?scl=1" style="height: 504px; width: 800px;"></center>Talking to BBC Sport about how it felt to win, Lizzie said: "It rates pretty high up there. To finish how I did, solo, with the crowds on the finish line is surreal and special all at the same time. I didn't soak it up until I had about 100m to go," the star said, who finished 55 seconds ahead of American Coryn Rivera.<center><img alt="laura" class="ci-image ci-original" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/laura_GL?scl=1" style="height: 532px; width: 800px;"></center>The <a href="http://letour.yorkshire.com/" target="_blank">full course</a>, which covers 304 miles through Yorkshire&rsquo;s beautiful scenery, has three stages. Stage 1, which is 107.5 miles, starts in Bridlington and finishes in Scarborough, Stage 2 begins in Tadcaster and ends in Harrogate while Stage 3 commences in Bradford and ends 121 miles later at Fox Valley in Sheffield.In the men's race, which kicked off on Friday, it was Belgian Serge Pauwels who claimed his first career win. The rider who was riding with Team Dimension Data timed his push perfectly on the final climbs of the 194.5km stage from Bradford to Fox Valley.<center><img alt="belgian_serge_pauwels" class="ci-image ci-original" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/belgian_serge_pauwels_GL?scl=1" style="height: 533px; width: 800px;"></center>He said: "It feels a bit strange. It is the first time I have had my hands in the air. But I think people would not really be surprised that I take a win because I have been quite close. Last year I was second, third, fourth, everything except a win, and now I get two wins at the same time which makes it more special."The winner's team-mate, Omar Fraile, finished second and Britain's Tao Geoghegan-Hart, riding for Team Sky, was fifth in the third stage.And to watch them fly to their victory was a huge number of spectators who lined the course on the final day of the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire. Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "We always knew the Tour de Yorkshire would be a success. We knew there'd be an appetite for it, but we were never quite sure how much of a success it would be. To see the crowds out yesterday - it hit home for me when we came through Holmfirth - the crowds there were just immense. Those images are the ones that stick with me."Top five winners in the Women's race1. Lizzie Deignan (GB/Boels Dolman) 3hrs 09mins 36secs2. Coryn Rivera (US/Team Sunweb) +55secs3. Giorgia Bronzini (ITA/Wiggle High 5) Same time4. Amy Pieters (NED/Boels Dolman)5. Hannah Barnes (GB/Canyon SRAM Racing)<center><img alt="tour_de_yorkshire_2017_crowds" class="ci-image ci-original" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/tour_de_yorkshire_2017_crowds_GL?scl=1" style="height: 533px; width: 800px;"></center>Top five winners in the Men's race1. Serge Pauwels (Bel/Team Dimension Data) 11 hrs 53mins 4secs2. Omar Fraile (Spa/Team Dimension Data) +6secs3. Jonathan Hivert (Fra/Direct Energie) +7secs4. Brent Bookwalter (US/BMC) +18secs5. Matthew Holmes (GB/Madison Genesis )+20secsPicture credits SWpix.com

The results of the Tour de Yorkshire 2017

By ASDA Admin,2nd May 2017

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