Mark Cavendish could only tip his cap to a superb breakaway performance as the Manx Missile couldn’t return from injury in style on the opening day of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire.

The 32-year-old has had a miserable start to the year with no fewer than three crashes - not even expecting to take to the start line in Beverley for the first of four stages.

But there he was, joining the field in a 113-mile ride to Doncaster - a relative jaunt given the hills set to be faced on day two from Barnsley to Ilkley.

Victory, however, was not to join him - that instead going to local hero Harry Tanfield as a six-strong breakaway held firm, with Cavendish left with the unfamiliar feeling of seeing his name 93rd in the standings.

Yet with the racing legs still not at their peak, the Team Dimension Data rider couldn’t be too downbeat as swathes of fans greeted him come the finish line.

"I didn’t catch them - that’s it. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t - that’s what can happen," he said.

"It’s not often a break stays away nowadays but when they all commit like that they’re going to, so fair play to them.

"I think my chances of winning that sprint weren’t great anyway, we were always going to ride and it’s a sprint in Yorkshire, but ultimately we weren’t towards the end there.

"I was always going to give it a shot but you miss that top end especially, it’s not even just in the sprint - it’s building up to the sprint.

"You’re sitting on that limit that you miss without the racing. But I was happy, the team all committed and gave everything for me, I’m proud of how they went about it."

There was success for Braddan’s Anna Christian, donning the Dimension Data grey jersey after being named as the most active rider of the day in the women’s event.

The Trek-Drops rider, a former British Junior Road Race champion, hadn’t expected to claim much in this, the first of an historic two stages in the 2018 ASDA Tour de Yorkshire Women’s race.

The race win wasn’t to come her way - the Yorkshire Bank and Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries instead going to Kirsten Wild - but with hopes exceeded, this is a day the 22-year-old won’t struggle to remember.

"I’m really happy, I didn’t expect to come and win a jersey and didn’t think the race would go as it did for me," she said.

"It was a sprint stage and I’m not a sprinter so didn’t think I’d get too much out of it.

"It had one climb but didn’t do the damage as some thought it might, it was a bit windy so it was quite nice to be out of the bunch.

"It’s so nice to have that support on the roadside, it’s one of the things people say about the Tour de Yorkshire and racing in Britain, the fans just love cycling so it’s nice to come and race here - it makes you proud to be British."

She was seventh on General Classification going into today (Friday’s) second and final day of the women’s race, which ends with a hill top finish in Ilkley.

Tom Mazzone was the best of the local/Manx riders in the event. The Team Holdsworth rider finished well up the chasing bunch in 27th spot, with Ben Swift (Great Britain) 45th, Leon Mazzone (Holdsworth) 49th, Mark Christian (Aqua Blue) 54th, Mark Cavendish 93rd and Ian Stannard (Team Sky) 123rd. They were all given the same time.

The men’s race continues until Sunday.

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/tdy