Tour of Norway: Kristoff wins final stage as Paterski takes the overall

Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat), 27, delivered the first overall victory of his career in a smart and aggressive manner as he attacked on the very last hill of the Tour of Norway to reach the finishing line with an advantage of five seconds over yellow jersey wearer Marc De Maar from Unitedhealthcare. Milan-San Remo winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) pleased his fans by claiming the last stage.

"Before coming to this race, I didn't have in mind to win it because I just concluded one week rest and I came to Norway to prepare for the Tour de Suisse," Paterski told Cyclingnews in Eggemoen where the race ended on an airport runway.

"But during the race, it appeared that I had a chance to win it, so my team made the race hard yesterday and today comes this happy ending. It’s a very prestigious victory, the most important of my life. I’m very happy, thanks to my team."

Until the very last moment, the 2014 Tour of Norway proved to be an aggressive race: something to do with the subtle course, the number of riders per team (six) and the absence of communication via ear pieces.

Paterski was the man who accompanied De Maar in his surge to victory on stage 2 where another bunch sprint finish was expected. Sep Vanmarcke and Bauke Mollema delivered for Belkin two days in a row but their Norwegian rider Lars-Petter Nordhaug failed to make it a hat trick despite attacking in the second last lap with 18km to go.

At that point, Sebastien Reichenbach of IAM Cycling was the last survivor of a seven-man breakaway that got a maximum lead of six minutes with sixty kilometers to go. It also comprised Omar Fraile (Caja Rural), Sergey Klimov (RusVelo), Nico Sijmens (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Anders Kristoffersen (Motiv 3), Fillip Eidsheim (FixIT.no) and Jan Marcus Karlsson (Ringeriks-Kraft).

"That was the perfect breakaway as I wanted to keep the polka dot jersey," said Amund Groendahl Jansen (Sparenbanken Sør), a time trial specialist from Arnes who became one of the Norwegian sensations of the week with his teammates Sondre Holst Enger and Bjørn Tore Hoem as well as Sven Erik Bystrøm from Øster Hus and Joker’s Kristoffer Skjerping and Odd Christian Eiking.

For the second straight day, De Maar enjoyed following rival teams CCC Polsat and Belkin, who worked to bring the escapees back but Paterski’s attack was excellent.

"I had also tried to get time bonus earlier, but I came fourth in a sprint," noted the Pole who took a few riders with him including German sprinter Gerald Ciolek of MTN-Qhubeka and handled his new responsibilities as team captain after four seasons working as a domestique at Liquigas and Cannondale.

As Kristoff jumped from the bunch after the U-turn at the flamme rouge, it was a duel between the last two winners of Milan-San Remo for the stage win, but the Norwegian was clearly faster.

"As a small group went away in the climb, it didn’t seem that it would be a sprint finish," the Katusha rider explained. "But we did a good job at 500 metres and this victory makes me very happy. I came to this race with the aim of winning three stages. I probably would have done it if the breakaway didn’t succeed on stage 2 but with two stage wins and the green jersey, this Tour of Norway is very satisfying for me. My shape is where it should be ahead of the Tour de France and next week, we have another Norwegian stage race with the Tour des Fjords (May 28-June 1st), that’s my home race (from Bergen to Stavanger). I hope for more success."

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