Tour of Norway: Alexander Kristoff wins final stage as Axel Laurance secures overall title

Norwegian legend Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to victory on stage 4 of the Tour of Norway in his home soil of Stavanger. Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) could not get around in the closing 50 metres and finished second. A late surge by Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) put him in third.

The overall title went to Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), as he rode safely in the lead pack in sixth position, and held his 12-second advantage over Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike). Adne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) was third overall, just one second behind Lemmen.

The pace was high on the final day of racing, Stage 4 featuring six laps of a 19km circuit around Stavanger for a rolling 124km. 

The Uno-X Mobility train cranked up the speed at the front of the peloton in the final kilometre with several twists and turns. The Norwegian team delivered Kristoff to the line for his third consecutive victory in Stavanger. It was the 11th stage victory for Kristoff in his career.

“I know exactly the finish, but today was really tough, really hard to get it together. I am pleased to take victory again this year” Kristoff said Sunday.

“I feel good, but of course, in the Tour is a different level, but some of the guys are the same. So if I can beat them here, why not in the Tour.”

With just under 100km left to race, a group of six riders took off and opened a quick 30-second gap on the fourth lap - Hannes Wilksch (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Laurent Gervais (Project Echelon Racing), Marcel Camprubí (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek), Kim Heiduk (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jakub Otruba (ATT Investments).

With 57km to go, Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet Cycling) bridged to the front group. Behind, Visma-Lease a Bike drove the pace. With two laps to go, Van Aert came to the front of the peloton and pushed the pace along with teammate Koen Bouwman. 

The maximum lead for the seven only stretched to a little more than one minute, and their adventure faded after the fourth pass of the Grisabakken.

On the penultimate climb, a small group formed across the crest, with Carl Fredrik Hagen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) leading Huub Artz (Inermarché-Wanty), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), in the best young rider jersey.

Vacek attacked over the climb with 7km to go, with all the GC contenders matching the acceleration to remain at the front of the race. The twisting roads into downtown Stavanger limited more attacks and Uno-X Mobility then lined up to move Kristoff into position for the sprint finish.

Results

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