The former UCI Road World Champion, returning to racing on home roads for Trek-Segafredo, found that the route she had recced in training was easier than expected under race conditions, not because of the momentum that's always involved of being in a peloton but rather because she had been over the wrong roads during her recon.
The Trek-Segafredo rider proved that local knowledge has to be correct to start with but that her form and intentions for the second stage were clearly indicated by a couple of stinging attacks on the run into Bedale that strung things out and caused instant reactions from her rivals.
"The circuit was really good, and to be honest I've been doing it wrong in training so I'm glad I actually saw the proper course. It's tough, it's good," she said at the finish of stage 1 in Bedale.
"I was just trying to stay warm. Normally in a race you're trying to save as much energy as you can but today there were points where you just have to ride on the front and stay warm. Towards the end we didn't have our sprinter, she's been unfortunately poorly this morning, so just did what we could and all got through safely.
"To be honest I've been doing it wrong in training! It's tough but it's good. The final couple of corners I've been coming at from a different angle. The main points of the circuit I'd been doing properly. It's a tough circuit but I like it."
Sarah Storey, who is looking to go to her eighth Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, had a contrasting view of the first stage, admitting that she suffered from the cold weather but was further challenged by the technical nature of the route.
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Despite having ridden the majority of the World's circuit, save for a one way street that wasn't closed, the cambers of certain corners and the street furniture that always accompanies an urban circuit made her day much more difficult.
Taking inspiration from the large crowds in Harrogate her personal struggles didn't stop her from encouraging the newer members of Storey Racing to mix it with the more illustrious World Tour riders.
"You're not going to see me crossing the line with my arms in the air but hopefully the work I can do in the peloton with the young riders, who have not been here before, so we can support them and their development. It's an amazing experience for them," she said.
Philippa York is a long-standing Cyclingnews contributor, providing expert racing analysis. As one of the early British racers to take the plunge and relocate to France with the famed ACBB club in the 1980's, she was the inspiration for a generation of racing cyclists – and cycling fans – from the UK.
The Glaswegian gained a contract with Peugeot in 1980, making her Tour de France debut in 1983 and taking a solo win in Bagnères-de-Luchon in the Pyrenees, the mountain range which would prove a happy hunting ground throughout her Tour career.
The following year's race would prove to be one of her finest seasons, becoming the first rider from the UK to win the polka dot jersey at the Tour, whilst also becoming Britain's highest-ever placed GC finisher with 4th spot.
She finished runner-up at the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1986, to Pedro Delgado and Álvaro Pino respectively, and at the Giro d'Italia in 1987. Stage race victories include the Volta a Catalunya (1985), Tour of Britain (1989) and Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1990). York retired from professional cycling as reigning British champion following the collapse of Le Groupement in 1995.
