Harry Tanfield sets a rapid pace for 340km coast to coast ride

Harry Tanfield has added his name to the list of riders taking on some epic lockdown kilometres.

The British WorldTour pro had a rapid 340km hit out on Sunday (June 14), as he rode coast to coast across Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Tanfield, who rides for Ag2r La Mondiale, rode for over 10 hours at a phenomenal pace, averaging 31.7km/h for the whole 337km ride.

Starting at around 6.30am, Tanfield set off from the North Yorkshire seaside town of Old Saltburn and rode cross country through Northallerton and Bedale on his way to Silverdale on the opposite coast.

He then rode back across via Rudby to finish back in Old Saltburn.

As you’d expect from a top-tier bike racer, the numbers are pretty ridiculous.

Tanfield averaged 230 watts for the whole ride, hitting a max power of 681.

He burned around 8,845 calories, making it a “historic relative effort” on Strava.

Despite the enormous effort, Tanfield had enough in the legs to top a Strava leaderboard in the process, setting the fastest time on the 29km-long Northallerton to Leyburn segment.

Tanfield is now in his second year at WorldTour level, having joined cycling’s Premier League with Katusha-Alpecin in 2019.

After finding his feet and winning a bronze medal in the World Championship mixed TTT in Yorkshire, Tanfield found himself without a team as Katusha was bought by Israel Start-Up Nation.

Luckily the Great Ayton-born rider was able to transfer to French WorldTour squad Ag2r.

This year Tanfield, 25, started his season at the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise in February, then racing Le Samyn the following month before racing was suspended due to coronavirus.

We’ve seen a number of epic rides from the pros this year, including Annemiek van Vleuten, who fired out 400km in a single ride with some of her fellow Dutch professionals.

Van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) rode with Jan-Willem van Schip, who planned the route, for an 11-hour day in the saddle, covering a total of 400.14km.

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Despite the enormous distance covered, Van Vleuten held an enviable power and average speed, holding 177w for the day and averaging 35.6km/h.