Kristoff wins opening stage at Arctic Race of Norway

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Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won the battle of the Norwegians as he beat Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) to victory on the opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway. It was a two-way duel between the pair on the uphill finish in Harstad as they put some serious distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) won the secondary sprint to finish in third.

Gerald Ciolek did a strong turn onto the final climb to bring Boasson Hagen right to the front. Kristoff, led by Marco Haller, moved right beside him to set up the final battle perfectly. Boasson Hagen kicked off the sprint but risked being blocked in when Haller peeled off to the left and got in the way of the MTN-Qhubeka rider. A quick tap on the side let Haller know he was there and normal service resumed.

Boasson Hagen pulled out a small gap on Kristoff but the Katusha rider held his nerve and delivered his first victory since June, making him the first leader of the race. “It’s great to win again. I didn’t win the whole summer so I’m happy. It was about time,” Kristoff said just before stepping on to the podium.

“I’m happy to win in the Arctic and now we can relax a bit because we have a win. With a five-man team it’s always very difficult but my team did a really great job even if we are one guy less. I was in the perfect position in the last kilometre and I was the strongest in the last climb to the finish so I was happy to finish it off.”

How it happened

Under a blue skyline and with the picturesque coastal city of Harstad acting as the backdrop, the 2015 Arctic Race of Norway set off on stage one.

Although the profile only included three categorised climbs, the rolling terrain offered a stern test to a field that comprised WorldTour, Pro Continental and Continental teams.

From the gun, attacks began and it wasn’t long before a seven-man move slipped clear after 14 kilometres of racing with Maxime Cam (Bretagne Seche-Environment), Vegard Stake Laengen (Team Joker), Max Emil Boholm Korner (Team Ringeriks Kraft), Haavard Blikra (Coop-Oster Hus), Jon Saeveras Breivold (Froy Oslo), Marius Hafsas (Fixit.no) and Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen) all going clear.

Along the rugged terrain the gap only grew, peaking out at seven minutes before the Katusha and Lampre Merida teams began to muster any form of damage limitation. With a gentle tailwind they quickly began to peg the break back, ticking off a minute here, a few more seconds there, before the seven-man break were at 3:20 with another 70 kilometres still to race.

Vegard Stake Laengen and Håvard Blikra claimed the first two climbs en route before Europcar moved to the front with Bryan Coquard’s chances of a sprint win firmly on their minds.

The reinforcements at the front of the peloton spelt the end for the break, with their advantage dropping below 1:50 as the race arched its way back to Hardstand and a finishing circuit that would decide the stage winner and the first leader in this year’s race.

With 25 kilometres to go the dying embers of the break briefly shone with a number of latch-ditch attacks as Vegard Stake Laengen took off alone. Hafsas was the only rider able to bridge across. The pair managed to move their buffer from 59 seconds to 1:19 with 20 kilometres to go. Laengen looked the stronger of the pairing as he distanced Hafsas with 8 kilometres remaining, forcing him to attempt the final lap on his own.

It was a stiff challenge, though, with the peloton crossing the finish line for the last lap just 16 seconds behind. His brave effort lasted until 6 kilometres to go after a spurt from BMC’s Dylan Teuns split the peloton. Astana also sent a rider off the front but the bunch regrouped with just over a kilometre to go, Katusha and Bora-Argon 18 setting the pace.

MTN-Qhubeka sidled into view as the race hit the bottom of the final climb, as Ciolek led Boasson Hagen to the front of the bunch. He launched his run for the line first but it was Alexander Kristoff who took the spoils on the day.

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