Arctic Race of Norway: Van Poppel pips Degenkolb in stage 2 sprint win

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Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) continued his rich vein of form with a strong sprint to beat John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) on the second stage of the Arctic Race of Norway on Friday.

It was a slightly uphill drag of a finish at the end of the 198.5km stage between Mo I Rana and Sandnessjoen but Degenkolb, who specialises in these finishes, lost out by a tight margin for the second successive day.

After his jumpy gears cost him victory yesterday, the German, who is continuing to rediscover his form after the January training crash that derailed his season, did nothing wrong and it was his teammate who led out the sprint. Van Poppel, however, who won two stages and the points classification at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this month, was right on the wheel and proved too strong, overhauling his rival just ahead of the line.

LottoNL-Jumbo’s Moreno Hofland was third ahead of a fading Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ), with stage 1 winner Alexander Kristoff well back.

Van Poppel now takes over the lead at the top of the general classification.

A bunch sprint was always on the cards but there was some hope for the breakaway men with a hefty first-category climb early on, followed by a couple of challenging inclines across the two laps of the finishing circuit in Sandnessjoen.

Jay Thomson (Dimension Data), Adrian Aas Stien (Joker), Audun Brekke Flotten (Ringeriks-Kraft) Krister Hagen (Coop-Oster Hus) Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty-Grouve Gobert), and Alex Kirsch (Stölting Service Group) were the men who spent most of the day in the break, enjoying five minutes at one point, though they were caught with just under 15km to go.

IAM Cycling’s Vicente Reynes Mimo tried to spring a surprise but was reeled in, while BMC’s Loic Vliegen tried to profit from a sharp incline just before the final couple of kilometres. But the sprinters teams didn’t falter, and Giant did a good job of getting Degenkolb up towards the front for the last 500 metres. The German couldn’t quite deliver and while the form looks like it’s continuing to return, the wait for the first victory of 2016 goes on.

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