Thor Hushovd got close to his first victory in 2014 when he finished second behind Alexander Kristoff in the Arctic Race of Norway. Having dropped out of GC contention, the Norwegian has one more chance to sprint for victory in the fourt-day race.

BMC Racing Team's Thor Hushovd matched his best result of the season Friday with runner-up to Alexander Kristoff (Katusha Team) on Friday's stage of the Arctic Race of Norway. The former world road champion said the 207-kilometer race was made more difficult by a strong headwind that saw the peloton finish nearly a half-hour behind schedule.

"Today was a long day with the headwind," Hushovd said, "but we went through some nice places. This was a really hard stage. Yesterday was also really tough and so was today with the wind. Plus, we did 1,500 meters of climbing."

Hushovd won two stages of the Arctic Race last year on the way to capturing the overall title in the race's inaugural edition. But on Thursday's opening stage, he finished 56th and 1:38 behind stage winner Lars Petter Nordhaug (Belkin Pro Cycling), effectively ending his hopes of a repeat.

"The guys did a good job to help Thor today," BMC Racing Team Sport Director Yvon Ledanois said. "Today he had good legs for the final. He did the maximum."

Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) finished third behind Kristoff and Hushovd while Nordhaug kept the overall lead with two days of the race remaining. BMC Racing Team's Loïc Vliegen (10th overall) is 24 seconds back and teammate Amaël Moinard (11th overall) is 34 seconds behind.