Hushovd takes home win in Arctic Tour of Norway

Thor Hushovd stated before the Arctic Race of Norway that he didn't want to be just the ambassador for the event, but wanted to be a stage and overall winner as well. After a frustrating fourth place in stage 1, the Norwegian champion reached half of his goal, and took the lead with an advantage of three seconds over stage 1 winner Kenny van Hummel thanks to the time bonus he captured at the first intermediate sprint yesterday.

"I was very determined to win today," Hushovd said as soon as he got off the bike. "It means a lot to me to be a winner at an event that I have supported a lot from the start. This is the best bike race I've ever taken part in. Yesterday I missed out because of the positioning, but I felt strong today. It couldn't be better for me. Winning here, in the Lofoten islands, it's so beautiful!"

Following a first stage marred by windy and cold conditions, the Arctic Race of Norway found the sun on the sublime Lofoten islands. From Svolvær to Svolvær through the coastal road along the Vestfjorden that is often described in touristic guides as the most scenic in the world, stage 2 saw a significant breakaway going after twenty kilometers of racing.

The breakaway was composed of six riders: Russel Downing (NetApp-Endura), Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Edwin Wilson (Joker-Merida), Michael Olsson (People 4 you), Max Emil Korner (Ringeriks-Kraft) and August Jensen (Øster Hus-Ridley). The latter, hailing from Bodø, is the only participant of the event originating from northern Norway. One day after racing in front of his fans and family, he went on to win both King of the Mountains prizes of the day while Helven took profit of his three successful intermediate sprints to grab time bonus and move up to third place overall.

"It was an efficient breakaway," Downing told Cyclingnews prior to being awarded with an enormous dry fish for being the most aggressive rider of the day. "My legs weren't good yesterday [he finished stage 1 seventeen minutes down] because I hadn't raced for seven weeks. I blew out, but today, I felt 100% better. I insisted at the front as much as I could. I wouldn't go down without fighting."

The six leaders weren't allowed to stay away with more than 2:40 over the peloton led by Vacansoleil-DCM's teammates of Van Hummel, aand later helped by the likes of representatives of Argos-Shimano, BMC and Team Plussbank.

Hushovd gave a strong indication of his strength when he followed an acceleration by Europcar's Vincent Jérôme who was later involved in a crash that affected King of the Mountains Lars-Petter Nordhaug of Belkin with 13.5 kilometres to go.

Korner, Olsson and Downing refused to give up and got rid of their former breakaway companions 13km before the finish. As soon as they got reined in at the 7km to go mark, Amund Grondal Jansen (Plussbank) tried his luck, so did Paul Martens (Belkin) three kilometers further. But a bunch gallop was inevitable.

"The final sprint was a bit of a chaos but I got an excellent lead out by Adam Blythe," Hushovd said after netting his sixth victory of the 2013 season. "When I got out of his wheel and I launched my sprint with 200 metres to go, I got the feeling of being unbeatable. In fact, nobody managed to pass me. This is fantastic!"

With two days to go, the amazing Norwegian crowd has more to enjoy with their hero looking as strong as he was during his golden years at the Tour de France (2001-2011).

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