CULT Energy Pro Cycling took charge of the peloton today and Mads Pedersen and Rasmus Guldhammer were both showing their aggressive side during the finale of today’s 177 kilometer fourth and penultimate stage of Tour des Fjords from Stavanger to Sandness. Ultimately, the field exploded and the leader’s jersey changed hands.

First four riders managed to create a rather big gap so CULT Energy decided to reel them in to open the stage again. When the escapees were back in the pack, a new race began and CULT Energy’s Mads Pedersen and Rasmus Guldhammer were on the move. On the local circuit, the breakaway riders started to get dropped one by one and the Katusha team had a rough time closing the gap. Unfortunately, Mads Pedersen and Guldhammer weren’t able to keep up with the three riders who ultimately broke clear.

On the finish line, Søren Kragh Andersen (Trefor-Blue Water) proved to be superb and took the stage win while Rasmus Guldhammer took 4th and Mads Pedersen 7th. In the overall classification, Guldhammer is 4th and Pedersen 6th.

DS Michael Skelde was happy to see his riders control the stage and to perform in the finale:

“We were in charge today and everyone of our riders performed perfectly. A stage win would have been the icing on the cake for us and even though we came close, Rasmus just needed that little bit of power today to bridge across to the front trio. It’s simply incredible to experience such a young rider like Mads Pedersen perform so well in this terrain. He’s such an amazing talent. Now, we have two riders in the top-6 and the race isn’t over before crossing the finish line tomorrow and I hope we’ll be able to stir things up again tomorrow."