The 215 kilometer long marathon stage two of Tour des Fjords starting in Jondal took the peloton to Haugesund in pouring rain. Along the way, a small breakaway stole some time in the limelight before the rather predictable finale where Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) took his second consecutive stage win ahead of Jasper Stuyen (Trek Factory Racing) and Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Team Trefor-Blue Water).

In spite of a strong effort from the riders in the front group, the neutralisation was inevitable. A few counter-attacks never caused any real danger to make things exciting and ultimately, Team Joker and Katusha brought back the last standing escapee. In the bunch sprint, the Norwegian Katusha rider once again demonstrated world class and took the stage win while CULT Energy Pro Cycling’s Mads Pedersen had to settle for 12th position.

DS Michael Skelde says:

“It was a very cold, long and fairly dull day. Everyone more or less waited for Katusha to take charge and guide Alexander to another stage win and naturally, that is what happened. I’m not sure whether it was because of the circumstances or just lack of will but today I really missed some initiative on the course, which had several launch pads if you wanted to attack. Tomorrow, a big and strong breakaway could make things difficult for a single sprinter team to control and if you can’t beat Kristoff in a sprint, you can’t win overall unless you attack from a distance."

The race ends on Sunday.