Alexander Kristoff continued Katusha's run of success when he held off compatriot Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) in the uphill sprint on the first stage of the Tour of Norway. Taking part in his big home race the Norwegian sprinter was glad to be successful in front of his home crowd and now hopes to defend the lead all the way to the end.

With three great world class sprinters in Thor Hushovd, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Alexander Kristoff, Norway has some of the fastest men on earth in their ranks and many have probably wondered who is really the fastest man in the Scandinavian country. Today a partial answer to that question was given when Kristoff beat Boasson Hagen in a very tight uphill sprint in the first stage of the Tour of Norway.

With one of the big home favourites in their ranks Katusha has given plenty of priority to the race and have lined up a strong roster of sprinters to support the Norwegian sprinter. Kristoff was very happy to get maximum benefit from his lead-out train in his first sprint ever in his home race which was held for the first time last year.

“It was a short stage, still the sprint was really hard," he said. "I have to thank the whole team, especially Rudiger Selig, Marco Haller and Alexander Porsev for the huge work they did in the final part in order to put me in the best position for starting my rush. The sprint with Boasson Hagen was head to head until the very last meters, where I was able to pass him. I’m very happy for this victory: it’s the first time I take part in the Tour of Norway, and it’s a pleasure to wear the leader’s jersey at my first attempt thanks to this brilliant performance.

Kristoff now hopes to defend his jersey for as long as possible and should have a good chance in tomorrow's flat stage. However, the race gets substantially tougher later in the week with the queen stage to Lillehammer on Saturday expect to shake things up. Last year Boasson Hagen laid the foundations for his overall victory by winning in the host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics and despite his improved climbing Kristoff knows that it will be a tough ask to bring home the overall victory.

"I want to keep it as long as possible," he said. "I’ll do my best even if I know I won’t be able to keep it until the end. But tomorrow I think there will be another sprinters stage, suitable to my characteristics. I’m in a good shape so I’ll try to win. In these days another part of Katusha has a lot of successes in the Giro d’Italia. Our team is really great, so I hope my teammates will continue to win."

Due to bonus seconds leads Boasson Hagen by 4 seconds.