Three in a row for Kristoff at Tour des Fjords

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Alexander Kristoff scored his third stage victory in a row on another rain-soaked stage from Stord to Sauda but it was probably the hardest one so far as he had to face attacks involving the likes of Daryl Impey, Adam Yates, Michael Valgren and Edvald Boasson Hagen in the 166.8km-long race.

“I felt quite good in the tunnel but it was a bit too long for me,” Kristoff said of the 8km-long Bømlafjordtunnel that preceded a King of the Mountain at 13.7km. “I was struggling and 17 guys went away. I was lucky that [runner-up Jasper] Stuyven was with me, so Trek had the same interest as us to bring the breakaway group back. Katusha and Trek worked well together but it was a really hard start. For a while, I thought the jersey was gone but now I remain in yellow and I feel really happy.”

The 17 escapees were Damien Howson, Impey, Christian Meier and Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Valgren, Pavel Brutt and Chris Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), Laurent Didier (Trek), Angel Madrazo, Eduard Prades and Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural-RGA), Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka), Francis De Greef and Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Pawel Bernas (Activejet), Sam Oomen (Rabobank Development) and Michael Olsson (Tre For-Blue Water). They got a minute lead and stayed at the front for 30km.

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Despite the continuous rain alongside the beautiful fjords, Danish champion Valgren was extremely motivated. He rode away again passed 50km at Haugesund, the hometown of U23 world champion Sven-Erik Bystrøm, with three other riders: Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-GreenEdge), Nic Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) and Wouter Mol (De Rijke). Valgren continued solo with 44km to go and eventually got reeled in 19km before the finishing line. Boasson Hagen counter attacked to put some pressure on Kristoff.

“Edvald tried in the last climb, also Orica,” the race leader noted, “but I felt I was always going to be stronger in the end of the race than at the start so I was confident that I’d be able to follow them. I don’t know what’s wrong with me at the beginning of the race, but the finale is more important, isn’t it?”

Boasson Hagen was relayed at the front by up and coming Frederik Galta, from Coop-Øster Hus, who finished fourth overall at the Tour of Norway last week. The 22-year-old was rejoined by Rasmus Guldhammer (Cult Energy) and Txurruka. The trio surrendered with 5km to go.

“I rode that uphill finish in Sauda before but I didn’t remember it was that hard,” Kristoff said. “When I saw the finish, I was pretty sure I’d win. I was confident in myself but you never know, there are other fast guys here. I think I won by a good margin.” He did.

He reached the total number of 16 victories for the 2015 season ahead of the closing week-end of the Tour des Fjords in his hometown of Stavanger where he is expected to be supported by huge crowds under better weather conditions. Saturday’s stage to Sandnes is supposedly the queen stage.

“Sixteen is already a good number, but I hope I have more to come”, Kristoff added. “Tomorrow I’m afraid to not be able to follow in the climb but this climb suits me better than the one in the tunnel today. It’s more like a classic-type so normally I’ll overcome the difficulty. I’ll try to make it five wins out of five stages but for sure it’ll be tough.”

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