Tour of Norway: Hansen solos to stage 3 win

Jesper Hansen of Tinkoff-Saxo claimed the first triumph of his pro career as he soloed to victory with 23km to go while climbing to Flisetjønn between walls of snow. The temperature was 2° at the top but it didn’t prevent the 24-year-old Dane from keeping his momentum downhill, although he was chased down by Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka), who confirmed his return to an excellent level ahead of the Tour de France.

"I rode both according to our plan and following my instinct as well," Hansen told Cyclingnews at the finish. “I decided to go alone after coming across to [Sky’s David] Lopez. I was feeling good uphill. That feeling made me decide to attack. This is my first victory but it’s also the first time I manage to ride away solo. I had to go solo because I don’t have a good sprint. Last year I tried as well but I wasn’t strong enough."

Hansen’s best personal result up to date was a second place in the queen stage of the 2014 Tour of Norway behind Bauke Mollema in Lillehammer. "To be the best young rider (and sixth overall) in this race one year ago as a neo pro was a satisfaction but I feel stronger now," he said. Following a downhill in which he made no mistake, he entered the flat section leading to the city of Rjukan in the middle of the mountains with less than a minute lead over two strong time trialists, Gustav Larsson (Cult Energy) and Boasson Hagen, but he kept a high tempo.

It looked like a fully Scandinavian top 3 in the making with a Dane, a Norwegian and a Swedish but Boasson Hagen dropped Larsson off and gave everything he had left.

"I’m satisfied with my race and the shape I have now, but I’m not surprised, I expected that," Boasson Hagen commented. "Uphill I couldn’t keep up with the highest pace of the Danish rider so I let him go. I couldn’t catch up but I’ve done my best to try and reduce the gap in the downhill. It wasn’t enough though but it’s not over yet."

As the Tour of Norway features a different route than in previous years when the overall classification was mostly shaped around Boasson Hagen’s hometown of Rudsbygd near Lillehammer, it was unclear whether the queen stage would be the third or the fourth one. Saturday’s short uphill finish keeps the suspense high as Boasson Hagen is 38 seconds down on Hansen on GC.

"I hope to keep the jersey," Hansen said. "I know there’s a small but hard climb of 2.5km to finish tomorrow. I’ll do my best to win my first stage race overall as well. I’d like to because the Tour of Norway has always been my favourite race since I first took part in it two years ago (7th on GC while riding for Cult Energy)."

Hansen gained the confidence of his teammates, who took control of the peloton from far out after Marcus Fåglum Karlsson (Tre Berg Bianchi), Sindre Lunke (Joker), Adrian Gjølberg (FixIT.no), Ole Forfang (Ringeriks-Kraft) and Vegard Bugge (Sparenbanken Sør) broke away after 20 kilometers of racing. Forfang and Bugge did it for the second straight day, on the hunt for the polka dot jersey that remained on Bugge’s shoulders.

Norwegian up-and-coming riders showed they weren’t only racing to appear on TV in the early part of the coverage as Andreas Vangstad (Sparenbanken Sør) and Odd Christian Eiking (Joker) played a big role in the crucial moments of the race. Another rider from Joker, Anders Skaarseth, became the best young rider, only showing that there are more cycling talents emerging in Scandinavia.

Results

General Cassifiction

Mountains Classification

Points Classification

Youth Classification

Team Classification