Glava Tour of Norway: Bos prevails in Drammen

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Theo Bos (Blanco) has recovered from injuries sustained in his crash during stage 2 at the Presidential Tour of Turkey and claimed his fifth victory of the season on the banks of the Drammensfjord. The Dutchman outsprinted Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who remains the race leader ahead of the Saturday's queen stage, while Italy's Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) finished third.

"I had ten days off the bike after returning from Turkey," Bos said. "At first, I thought I could continue riding but I felt that my knee was twisted. I switched all my training to swimming.

"I thought I'd resume racing at the Bayern Rundfahrt, but last week my knee was better so I decided to come to Norway just to raise my level. Now I'm happy that I came. My level is not super-high but good enough to win today."

Bos' teammate Lars Boom also resumed racing in Norway after his sinus operation post-Amstel Gold Race. His presence in the four-man breakaway group helped the Blanco team to save energy for the stage finale.

Boom was accompanied by Sven Erik Bystrom of Oster Hus, who earned time bonuses during the stage and moved into the lead in the best young rider classification, Amets Txurruka of Caja Rural plus Lotto-Belisol's Tim Wellens, who sat up and waited for the peloton after preventing Txurruka from threatening his teammate Sander Cordeel in the King of the Mountain competition. The remaining trio of Boom, Bystrom and Wellens was brought back with 30km to go on the final circuit of Drammen after achieved a maximum advantage of 2:40.

It was an extremely popular stage with thousands of people dressed in traditional folk costumes (bunad), waving Norwegian flags on this national holiday and celebrating the Glava Tour of Norway near the Oslo fjord at the same time. It felt like Bastille Day at the Tour de France or Australia Day at the Santos Tour Down Under.

It was also Edvald Boasson Hagen's 26th birthday and Team Sky led him out pretty well, but their train was disrupted by an acceleration from Bos' lead-out man Graeme Brown 500m from the finish. Bos experienced a brief hiccup in his run-in to the finish, as he pulled his foot out of the pedal, but had time to make amends nonetheless while Boasson Hagen had to settle for fourth.

"Unfortunately, as I told Brownie to go, I unclipped my foot," Bos said. "I was lucky that I got directly back in the pedal and I started sprinting straight away. A sprinter can be in mediocre form and still win. Following Brownie is the easiest way to win a sprint. Most of the time, he puts me in the right spot."

The Brown/Bos pairing had already paid off this season with Bos winning two stages at Le Tour de Langkawi, prior to getting sick, and stage 1 of the Criterium International. The former track world champion for sprinting has had his ups and downs with sickness and injuries this year but he's very satisfied with his tally of five victories by mid-May.

"I've stepped up my level from last year," Bos said. "It's quite an achievement to beat the Norwegian sprinters at home because they have a very high level!"

Bos stole the national show and prevented Kristoff from the hat-trick he targeted. "It was a pretty hectic sprint," said Kristoff. "My lead-out man went down in a crash. I had to pull my brakes hard and I lost some positions on that manoeuvre. Because of the energy I used to get back on, I couldn't pass Bos at the end. Only if I'd been in front of him when the sprint started, I could have beaten him but that's only theoretical now."

Third placed Matteo Pelucchi looked happier. "I'm not super at the moment," the Italian told Cyclingnews. "I've had physical problems but I'm coming back to form nicely. I finished ninth yesterday and third today, which is the best I could hope for. Bos and Kristoff are one step above."

So is Boasson Hagen who might find in his disappointment of missing out on the victory on his birthday today some extra motivation for the queen stage on Saturday that will lead the Glava Tour peloton to Lillehammer and pass in front of his house twice. Stage 4 is designed for his skills with a 5km climb that he knows by heart.

While Kristoff will start in the leader's jersey tomorrow, Boasson Hagen holds second on general classification at 14 seconds.