Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) took a very popular home victory on the first stage of the Arctic Race of Norway but he needed a good portion of luck to continue his run of success in his home race. The Norwegian had to start his sprint far behind John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) who was given the perfect lead-out by Søren Kragh Andersen but when the German’s chain started to jump, Kristoff narrowly managed to come around to take the win and the first leader’s jersey. Danny Van Poppel (Sky) was a distant third.

During the first three editions of the Arctic Race of Norway, Alexander Kristoff has been the dominant figure. The Norwegian fell ill on the eve of the first race in 2013 but then showed his class one year later as he won two stages and the points jersey and finished second overall. Last year he again won the opening stage and took another win in the points classification.

This year the local crowd is again hoping for success for their hero but Kristoff has been set back by illness in the last few weeks. Hence, he was a bit uncertain about what to expect in today’s opening stage whose tough finale with a late category 1 climb and flat finish was tailor-made for the strong sprinter.

Nonetheless, Kristoff asked his teammates to control the race and in the end he paid them back with another win when it all came down to the expected bunch sprint. However, this win was more based on luck than strong legs as he wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for John Degenkolb’s misfortune.

Degenkolb was given the perfect lead-out from Søren Kragh Andersen and looked destined to take the win when his chain jumped several times. Forced to sit down, the German was unable to maintain his speed and so Kristoff just managed to come around to take his fourth stage win in three years.

The fourth edition of the Arctic Race of Norway kicked off with a 180.5km stage from Fauske to Rognan. The first part was flat and led to the first sprint in Bodø at the 61km mark. Then the riders tackled a category 2 climb (2km, 4.3%) before another flat section led to another category 2 ascent (2km, 7.6%) at the 117.5km mark. In the finale, the terrain got significantly hillier, with two intermediate sprints coming in quick succession at the top of small climbs. However, the big challenge was the category 1 climb of Ljøsenhammeren which averaged 3.5% over 8.7km. The top came with just 18.5km to go and was followed by a descent and 10 flat kilometres leading to the finish in Rognan.

The riders had dry conditions on a cloudy Thursday when they gathered for the start of the fourth edition of the Arctic Race of Norway. Unfortunately, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) had fallen ill, and he had to stay in the hotel while the rest of the field started the stage.

As expected, there were attacks right from the start, but the break was established relatively quickly. After four kilometers of racing, five riders got clear and were later later joined by another two. Krister Hagen (Coop Østerhus), Maxime Cam (Fortuneo Vital Concept), Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo), Gregory Rast (Trek-Segafredo), Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon 18), Kenny de Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Max Emil Kørner (Team Ringeriks Kraft) had to work hard to get a larger lead but in the end, the peloton gave up. When the gap had gone out to 1.05, it was time for a natural break and so the gap quickly went out to 4.30 before Katusha finally put some speed into the bunch again.

While the lead continued to grow, a frustrated Philippe Gilbert (BMC) had to change his bike, but he easily got back to the peloton which was 5.30 behind after 40km of racing. The gap reached 6.10 before FDJ came to the fore to help Katusha. It did not change the trend as the lead reached almost seven minutes before Rast beat Hagen and Cam in the first intermediate sprint.

Van Asbroeck beat Hagen and De Ketele in the first KOM sprint before the field reached the top 6.30 later. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Katusha) was now virtually doing the work alone and he could not prevent the gap from going out to 7.00.

The chase finally got organized when Max Walscheid (Giant-Alpecin), Daniel Hoelgaard (FDJ) and Matthew Brammeier (Dimension Data) came to the fore to lend Bystrøm a hand. The quartet worked well together and as they hit the second climb with 65km to go, the gap was down to 5.30. Van Asbroeck launched a long sprint to easily win the battle for KOM points ahead of Hagen and Cam before the peloton reached the top 4.50 later.

The climb was too tough for De Ketele who was dropped from the break but the rest of the break worked excellently together. That prompted BMC to respond and Marcus Burghardt started to work on the front on the peloton as soon as they returned to flat roads. Meanwhile, De Ketele managed to complete a hard chase to rejoin the front group.

Burghardt soon disappeared from the front and instead Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha) started to work with Bystrøm, Hoelgaard, Kanter and Brammeier. They had shaved the gap down to 4.15 when Rast beat Schillinger and Cam in the second intermediate sprint with 44km to go.

The gap remained stable for a while but as they started to climb towards the third intermediate sprint, it had dropped to 3.30. Surprisingly, there was no fight for the points in the sprint which Schillinger won ahead of Korner and Rast.

The early workers started to fade away and with 30km to go, it was Brammeier, Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha) and Max Walscheid (Giant-Alpecin) working on the front. Moments later, the front group hit the final climb with an advantage of 2.45.

Schillinger made the group explode as they headed up the ascent. De Ketele and Korner were dropped immediately and after less than one kilometre of climbing, only Rast could stay with the German.

Guarnieri and Brammeier led the peloton onto the climb and the BMC went full gas with Michael Schär. The strong Swiss split the field as sprinters like Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) and Herman Dahl (Sparebanken) were left behind.

With 22km to go, Schillinger dropped Rast and while he pressed on, Kuznetsov, Loic Vliegen and Amael Moinard (BMC) also started to work in the peloton. They brought De Ketele and Korner back and strung out the group.

With 20km to go, the gap dropped to less than two minutes just as heavy rain started to fall and then FDJ hit the front with Yoann Offredo. Kuznetsov also contributed to the pace-setting but BMC started their work.

Schillinger reached the top with an advantage of 15-20 seconds over Rast. Van Asbroeck sprinted hard to lead Hagen and Cam over the top a little later. Close to the top, Sparebanken Sør and Joker took over the pace-setting in the peloton and it was the latter team that led the bunch over the top 1.20 behind the lone German.

Schär took over the pace-setting on the descent before Joker again hit the front, bringing the three chasers back. Rast was also swallowed up when Lars Boom (Astana) upped the pace 35 seconds behind the lone Schillinger.

Boom and two Joker riders got a small gap on the lower slopes of the descent but they were quickly brought back by Schär. Boom kept riding on the front as they entered the final 10km 15 seconds behind the leader.

Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) started to chase as Moreno Hofland had made the selection and then Joker again surged forward. The wet descent had split the fiend and only around 50 riders were left with 7.5km to go. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) was one of the riders to have been dropped.

A Joker rider got a small advantage before they hit the flat roads where Trek put Giacomo Nizzolo and Marco Coledan on the front. The American team was working or Niccolo Bonifazio who had survived  the climb.

The Joker rider passed Schillinger just after the 5km to go mark but just 100m later, it all came back together. Coledan took a massive turn for Trek, followed by teammates Nizzolo, Boy Van Poppel and Bonifazio, but the team lost control with less than 2km to go when Vanmarcke hit the front.

Tyler Farrar upped the pace for Dimension Data, trying to lead Youcef Reguigui out, before Trek regained the first positions just before the flamme rouge. Nizzolo led the peloton under the red kite and then swung off to leave it to Van Poppel to finalize the lead-out.

Van Poppel looked strong but it was too early and as he started to fade, he was passed by Søren Kragh Andersen (Giant-Alpecin). The Dane gave Degenkolb a perfect lead-out and when the German launched his sprint, he immediately got a gap.

Kristoff was stuck on Bonifazio’s wheel and even though he started his sprint immediately, he had a big gap to close. He was lucky when Degenkolb’s chain started to jump and as the Giant-Alpecin leader was forced to sit down, the Norwegian narrowly came around just metres from the line. Danny Van Poppel took third and Hofland and Danilo Napolitano (Wanty) completed the podium.

With the win, Kristoff takes the leader’s jersey with a 3-second advantage over Rast who picked up seven bonus seconds during the stage. The Norwegian should have a chance to make it two in a row in the lumpy second stage. After a flat start, the riders will tackle the category 1 climb of Korgfjellet which will be used in the finale of the third stage too. It averages 6.4km over 8.9km, with the top coming at the 44.5km mark. From there the riders will descend back to flat terrain until they get to the finish line for the first time with 28km to go. Having contested the final intermediate sprint here, the riders will end the race by doing two laps of a 14km circuit. It includes the category 2 climb of Kleivskaret (0.5km, 10%) which comes 10.5km from the finish. From there, the road continues uphill for a few kilometres before a descent leads to the final 4km which are slightly ascending. The final kilometre averages 1.7%.