Tour of Norway: Vangstad solos to victory on final day

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The Tour of Norway will remain in Jesper Hansen's career as the first-ever victory at the age of 24. On a wet finale with a stage finish on the runway of Eggemoen airport in the Ringerike region, the Dane came home safely in the bunch that couldn't catch lone attacker Andras Vangstad, 23, of the Sparenbanken Sør team run by Thor Hushovd and Atle Kvålsvoll.

"It's a very good feeling," Hansen told Cyclingnews. "This is the first big race I've won. It went all well in the last stage. [Runner-up Edvald] Boasson Hagen attacked in the final climb but I was not scared. I had 47 seconds lead on GC. I could let him go and make sure we weren't far behind. We went full gas, so did Katusha because they wanted a bunch sprint for Kristoff."

Eight riders went clear after 30km of racing: Yaroslav Popovych (Trek), Vegard Breen (Lotto-Soudal), Michael Reihs (Cult), Tim Kerkhof (Roompot), Arthur Vanoverberghe (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Alexander Wetterhall (Tre Berg-Bianchi), Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Joker) and Marius Hafsås (FixIT.no). They didn’t get more than three minutes of a lead. Only the three Norwegians believed there was a chance to win: Grøndahl Jansen, Breen and Hafsås. Another Norwegian entered in action with just 15km to go. He bridged the gap by himself and soloed to victory two kilometres before the end.

"This is absolutely fantastic," said the young rider from Kristiansand. "It's amazing that I managed to stay away. I didn't dare to look back to see how far behind the peloton was. It means a lot to me to win this race. Now I hope that people will know who I am."

As an experienced rider, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) has warned on the very first day of the Tour of Norway that although he had won that conclusive stage last year on the same runway, he knew it would always be difficult to get a bunch sprint finish.

"I was hoping to win," said the Tour of Flanders champion who took third place behind Frederik Galta (Coop-Øster Hus). "Compared to last year, the distance between the last climb and the finishing line was shorter. I'm quite happy with third actually because at the top of the climb, I was pretty far behind but I managed to come back. What Vangstad did today was impressive, especially from a young rider who hasn't been cycling for a long time."

Boasson Hagen and David Lopez (Team Sky) completed the final podium of the Tour of Norway.

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