GERMAN speedster Rick Zabel won a bunch sprint to take the second stage of the Tour de Yorkshire in Bedale.

Britain's Chris Lawless finished third, behind Dutchman Boy van Poppel, as Zabel produced a dominant finishing burst at the end of the 132km leg that started in Barnsley.

British duo Andrew Tennant and Dan McLay were fourth and fifth but superstar Mark Cavendish, who had seemed well placed, did not contest the sprint in the end and came home in 18th place after appearing to run out of power in the closing stages.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome finished in the middle of the peloton.

Stage one winner Jesper Asselman, of the Ned/Roompot team, remains first in the general classification but Ger/Katusha Alpecin rider Zabel is now only one second behind. Asselman's team-mate, Van Poppel, is four seconds further back overall.

The four-stage race continues from Bridlington to Scarborough tomorrow and concludes in Leeds on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes won the opening stage of the women's Tour de Yorkshire over the same Barnsley to Bedale course, the Parkhotel Valkenburg rider taking victory in a sprint finish.

A six-strong breakaway was finally reeled in with barely two kilometres of the race left to set up the sprint.

It was a third win of the season for the 20-year-old, and a pretty comfortable one ahead of Boels-Dolmans' Christine Majerus and Team Tibco-SVB's Alison Jackson.

Brother UK-Tifosi's Anna Henderson was the highest-placed Briton in eighth place, while 2017 champion Lizzie Deignan of Trek-Segafredo came home in the main pack.

The two-stage women's race finishes in Scarborough tomorrow.