Two-time Tour de Langkawi stage winner Caleb Ewan has sprinted to second place on the opening stage of the Tour of Norway today.

The 20-year-old neo-pro was pipped across the line by Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) after a frantic final chase that saw the day’s breakaway shut down with just 200metres to spare.

“Kristoff would be arguably the best guy in the world right now in a sprint like today,” sport director Matt Wilson said. “The finish was quite deceptive on television; it was quite a difficult uphill sprint.

“Caleb had a pretty good run in and had Kristoff’s wheel but as soon as he hit out was a bit too strong. Caleb was pretty close there though.”

The late catch prevented the little opportunity to set up sprint trains in the finale today, a situation Wilson said should change tomorrow.

“It shouldn’t have come down to the wire like that,” Wilson said. “It should have been well in control but a couple of little mistakes from a few teams, including us, made it a lot harder than it had to be.

“Tomorrow will suit Caleb a lot better. There is a little climb near the finish that will soften things up a bit and then a flat fast sprint. We will try again, although Kristoff seems to be able to do everything this year!”

In other news, Jens Keukeleire was involved in a crash within the final two kilometres of racing but has escaped any serious injury, just losing some skin. He was given bunch time.