Bauke Mollema notched the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM’s tenth win of the season today. The Dutchman triumphed in the fourth stage of the Tour of Norway.

Mollema led the race with three others after a late attack. A spill in a turn eliminated two of them, after which the Groninger defeated Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff-Saxo) in a sprint-a-deux. Lars Petter Nordhaug won the sprint in the chasing group for third place.

“Fantastic,” said Mollema. “I’m very happy to win here. The Tour of Norway is a very nice race.”

The team’s tactic was spot-on. In the final 60 kilometres, the peloton had to tackle one climb twice. During the first ascent, the riders of Sports Director Erik Dekker raised the pace to wear down the peloton and to drop some riders. During the second climb, Mollema decided to attack.

“I gave everything I had and I realised that no one was able to follow,” said Mollema. “I then picked up three escapees. When we reached the top we still had 23 kilometres to go. We maintained a good pace and managed to stay clear. I felt very strong and very confident for the sprint. I think that I still would’ve won if the two others didn’t crash.”

Mollema sits third overall now. He’s six seconds down on race leader and compatriot Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare. “Unfortunately, our tempo dropped in the final 23 kilometres. That cost me dearly as I miss out on taking the lead. It won’t be easy to catch Marc de Maar. You don’t easily drop him. Besides that, it remains to be seen how difficult the course is tomorrow.”