Tour of Norway: Txurruka wins in Geilo

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Full of confidence after he claimed the first win of his career the previous day, Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff-Saxo) tried to double up at Geilo, stage 4, in the only uphill finish of the Tour of Norway but Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural-RGA) counter-attacked in the last 300 metres to secure win. Fourth on the line, the Danish rider maintained his overall lead with one day to go and even increased it by nine seconds over runner up Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka), who was the local favourite for that stage.

"I’m very happy," Txurruka reacted at the finish. "I knew I came to the Tour of Norway with good form but yesterday, I didn’t feel good. I was disappointed with my performance [46th]. I was up there uphill with David Lopez but I suffered in the cold and I punctured downhill. I was avid for a revenge. Maybe the adrenaline helped me in today’s final rush. I was hoping to ride for GC at this race. Fortunately I have a stage win to compensate my disillusion. May is usually my period of form. I have to profit from it."

Since Peio Bilbao won stage 1 of the Vuelta Castilla y Leon in April ahead of his brilliant success at the Tour of Turkey in the uphill finish of Selçuk, that made him another potential stage winner in Norway. The wheels of fortune have been overturned in the Caja Rural-RGA team with six victories in one month including prestigious ones by Lluis Mas at the Tour of Turkey and Omar Fraile at the Four Days of Dunkirk.

Txurruka was smart to mark another Basque rider, Lopez, whose state of form was no secret since he attacked strongly in the high mountains on Friday. Hansen followed his move closely and realised he had a chance to not only defend his jersey but also win a second stage in a row.

"Maybe I attacked a bit too early," the Dane told Cyclingnews. "I seriously tried to win but I like longer climbs than this one. During the race, I was never completely sure that we’d manage to catch Bob Jungels. He was still 6:30 ahead with 40km to go and he’s a very strong guy."

The Luxembourger’s heroic attack was launched with Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Soudal) after 30km of racing. With 47km to go, the Trek rider decided to continue on his own but ran out of gas on a cold but sunny day on a Norwegian plateau. He gave a hard time to the Tinkoff-Saxo and MTN-Qhubeka teams that worked at the front of the race.

Another young rider emerged in the final climb, 20-year-old Odd Christian Eiking (Joker), who crossed the line ahead of the likes of Fränk Schleck and Boasson Hagen after starting the hill in the last positions of the peloton. "I was sleeping," he admitted. "The race was not what we expected. Because of the wind, it was an easy riding towards the final climb and a lot of riders were still there. I got the white jersey but the competition for the best young rider isn’t very high here. I’m a bit disappointed. I was aiming for a higher result overall (11th) but there’s one more chance tomorrow."

The grand finale on the airport of Eggemoen isn’t an easy one. Alexander Kristoff won there a year ago but reckoned it might not be a sprint finish. Hansen agreed: "I know the last climb from last year. Different things can happen but I hope to keep the yellow jersey."

Maciej Paterski (CCC) took over from race leader Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare) one year ago on the last day in the Ringerike region.

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