Tour des Fjords: Kragh Andersen wins in Sandnes

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Søren Kragh Andersen of Tre For-Blue Water claimed the first pro win of his career but probably not his last one as he's being courted by several World Tour teams. He rode away from a front group of thirteen riders including Marco Haller who was sent up the road by race leader Alexander Kristoff (Katusha). He outsprinted Spain's Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural-RGA) and his own teammate Michael Olsson, the Swedish champion who played a big role in his quest to power with one day to go in the Tour des Fjords.

"What a wonderful day for me and the team," Kragh said. "To have two men in the top three is incredible. I'm so happy. This is the biggest victory in my career so far. I'm hoping to go pro soon. This is my dream. My season has been wonderful up to now but if I win the Tour des Fjords overall, it would change my career a lot."

"It was a very tactical stage at the beginning," Kragh continued. "Four riders went away and they were all fifteen minutes down on Kristoff but other teams rode to close the gap." Damien Howson (Orica-GreenEdge), Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing), Jeroen Meijers (Rabobank Development) and Ronan van Zandbeek (De Rijke), the latter on the hunt for more King of the Mountains points, took off after 20km. They got a 7 minute advantage but they were brought back with 72km to go, notably because of the chase organized by Caja Rural-RGA. Another group went away in the main hill of the day just after the regrouping.

"We formed a big group and we realized we were going for the yellow jersey as we got three minutes lead," Kragh added. The 13-man breakaway included highest ranked rider Haller whose presence at the front gave a break to Katusha in the chase. Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka), Mads Pedersen and Rasmus Guldhammer (Cult Energy), Angel Madrazo and Txurruka (Caja Rural-RGA) were the other new GC contenders. "The last three laps in Stavanger, it was just full gas," Kragh remembered.

Orica-GreenEdge fired up the bunch in the steep climb of Åsveien on the final circuit with Adam Yates the second last lap and Daryl Impey in the last one. Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) also tried to ride away from arch-rival Kristoff but the victory belonged to the front runners. Three of them emerged: Txurruka who took the polka dot jersey, Olsson and Kragh.

"I was going well," Txurruka told Cyclingnews. "But we didn't understand each other in the team. Then I've realized that it would be difficult to beat two guys from the same team and I could see the eventual winner had the speed of a track rider. In the final straight line, I lost my pedal but I wouldn't have won anyway. He's too fast."

Kristoff said the finale was a bit too tough for Marco Haller, his leadout man..

"But he's quite strong and we have another shot to try and win the Tour des Fjords with him tomorrow," said Kristoff who didn't express a big disappointment. "

Kragh is only eight seconds ahead of the Austrian from Katusha on GC. "It's going to be hard to defend the jersey on the last day," the 20 year old Dane said. "We're a continental team, not as strong as some World Tour teams that are here but our director (Allan Johansen) has a plan."

And Kragh has a future…

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