After a break of more than a month, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) found back to his winning ways on the very first occasion when he powered clear to win the uphill sprint on the first stage of his home race, the Tour of Norway. In a dramatic finale where the early break almost denied the sprinters the chance to go for the win, he held off Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) to take both the stage win and the first leader’s jersey in the race.

The 2015 season has been an unbelievable one for Alexander Kristoff who has had an amazing run of success right from the start of the year. During the last month, the Norwegian has had a quiet time as he has been recharging his batteries and getting ready for the Tour de France.

Yesterday Kristoff told his Katusha team that he had gained 4-5kg but was quietly confident that he would be able to win a couple of stages in his first race back, the Tour of Norway. His home race has always been a happy hunting ground and with a tough uphill sprint set to decide the first stage, things were looking bright for him.

Kristoff fully lived up to his status as the big favourite even though he ran short of manpower in the finale. With a powerful surge with 150m to go, he took a comfortable victory as he distanced Caleb Ewan and Edvald Boasson Hagen on the steep slopes in the finale.

However, it was no easy feat to bring it back together for a sprint. A four-rider breakaway of Sean De Bie, Pim Ligthart (Lotto), Oscar Landa (Coop) and Vegard Stake Laengen (Joker) turned out to be very difficult to catch. When Ligthart led Laengen and Landa across the line for the second time to win the final intermediate sprint and start the second of two three laps of the 6.7km finishing circuit, they were still 1.30 ahead of the peloton in which Juraj Sagan, Evgeny Petrov (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha), Songezo Jim, Jaco Venter (MTN-Qhubeka) and Mitchell Docker (Orica-GreenEDGE) were chasing hard.

Orica-GreenEDGE added more firepower to the chase as they asked Mathew Hayman to work hard. However, his big turns didn’t have the desired effect and with 7km to go, the gap was still 1.15.

As they crossed the finish line, most of the workers had blown up and now Katusha had to go all in. Sven Erik Bystrøm and Marco Haller who were the final two teammates for Kristoff, took some massive turns on the front and with the assistance from Jay Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka), they made the difference.

With 4km to go, they had brought the gap down to 20 seconds when Bystrøm decided to stop his work to keep his GC options open. As Thomson had swung off, it was now Haller doing all the work but when he started to fade, the pace went down.

A frustrated Kristoff shouted at other teams to help but it was Bystrøm who had to get back to the front. He took another huge turn before Sky finally hit the front.

A crash in a late turn brought down two riders but that did little to stop Sky who were still riding hard on the front. Meanwhile, De Bie sat up and left just 3 riders in front when they passed the flamme rouge.

Here Orica-GreenEDGE took over with a single rider while Caleb Ewan slotted into fourth behind two Sky riders. As they started to climb, Laengen made a big surge and only Landa could keep up with him.

Things were looking good for the two Norwegians as Kristoff now had to ride on the front himself and he could do nothing to prevent a Caja Rural rider from attacking. However, he was rescued when Boasson Hagen decided to do a long sprint and while his compatriot powered past all the attackers, he took a few moments to recover before he launched his sprint. He easily passed Boasson Hagen and Ewan could not even try to pass him.

With the win, Kristoff also takes the first leader’s jersey in the race. He goes into stage 2 with a 4-second advantage over Ewan and will have a good chance of making it two in a row. The course includes several small climbs on roads that are never really flay but with a downhill run to the line, all is set for a sprint finish in Langesund.

A tough finishing circuit

The 2015 Tour of Norway started with a 182km stage from Årnes to Sarpsborg that seemed tailor-made for the strong sprinters. The first part was mostly flat but the terrain gradually got hillier with numerous short, steep ascents, including one categorized climb around the midpoint. In the end, they tackled three laps of a tough 6.7km finishing circuit that included an 800m climb to the finish.

The riders had great sunshine when they gathered for the start in Årnes and headed out for their ride in the lumpy Norwegian terrain. They got the stage off to a very fast start with lots of attacks and it was a rider from the Joker team who made the first move. He was quickly brought back while light rain briefly fell on the peloton.

The break is formed

Three riders were the next to get a small gap but they didn’t have any luck either. After 20km of fast racing, it was still all together.

While a lot of riders fought their way back from punctures, five riders managed to get clear after 25km of racing. Antonio Molina (Caja Rural), Nikola Aistrup (Riwal), Sebastian Balck (Tre Berg), Vegard Stake Laengen (Joker) and Oscar Landa (Coop) quickly got a gap of one minute and as the peloton slowed down, it had suddenly gone out to 6 minutes after just 30km of racing.

Katusha take control

The gap went out to 7.30 before Katusha hit the front to control the situation. At the 45km mark, they had brought the gap down to 6.45 and when Balck beat Laengen and Landa in the first intermediate sprint, it was 6.20.

Dmitriy Kozontchuk and Egoi Silin (Katusha) gradually reeled the escapees in and after 60km of racing they had reduced their deficit to 5 minutes and 5km later it was only 4 minutes.

The gap comes down

The peloton kept the gap stable between 3.30 and 4.00 for a while before Ivan Santaromita (Orica-GreenEDGE) started to work with Silin and Kozontchuk.  Meanwhile, Asmund Lovik (FixIT) was the first rider to abandon the race.

Santaomita’s work paid off as the gap was down to 2.50 at the 92km mark. Moments later, Landa beat Laengen, Molina and Aistrup in the KOM sprint to get hold of the mountains jersey.

The gap grows

The peloton slowed down as Orica-GreenEDGE stopped their work and at the 106km mark, the gap was again 4.10. Kozontchuk and Silin were still setting the pace and they again upped the pace to bring the gap down to 1.50 with 56km to go. Moments later, Landa beat Laengen and Aistrup in the second intermediate sprint.

The peloton again slowed down and allowed the gap to go out to 2.40 when Sean De Bie and Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) suddenly launched a surprise attack. With a 7km team time trial, they quickly made it up to the leaders.

The chase gets organzied

The injection of power gave the break new life and very quickly the gap went out to 3.05. In the peloton, more riders came to the fore as Santaromita again started to work with Silin and Kozontchuk.

With 35km to go, the gap was still 3 minutes and so more teams started to chase. Evgeny Petrov (Tinkoff-Saxo), Mitchell Docker (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Songezo Jim (MTN-Qhubeka) all started to take turns but it didn’t have much of an effect as the gap was still 2.40 with 27km to go.

The break splits up

With 25km to go, Landa and Ligthart attacked and they quickly got a gap. De Bie was the first to join them and Laengen also made it back while Aistrup exploded completely. Molina and Balck got close to rejoining the group but they never made it.

The new front quartet was still 2.40 ahead as they entered the final 22km to go and now the chase got even more organized as Juraj Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Jaco Venter (MTN-Qhubeka) also started to chase. As they crossed the finish line to start the first lap of the circuit, they had brought the gap down to 2 minutes.

Kozontchuk and Jim had now blown up and it was Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha) who had to work with Sagam Petrov, Silin, Venter, Docker and Santaromita. However, their progress had stalled and as they entered the final 15km, the gap was still 1.50.