In the second stage of the Arctic Race of Norway, which covered 207 kilometers from Honningsvåg to Alta, Scott Thwaites came in an outstanding fifth place. In the royal sprint, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) prevailed ahead of Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing) and Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise). In seventh place, Paul Voss continues to be Team NetApp-Endura’s best rider in the general classification.

“Today we wanted to save our energy and prepare the sprint for Sam at the end. Everything went well until eight kilometers before the finish line. Our guys were preparing for the sprint when Sam and Zak were involved in the crash. After that we were forced to change our plans. The guys who were still in the race briefly coordinated with each other, which is how Scott managed to pull off a strong fifth place finish. When you consider that he had already been working hard the entire day to keep Sam out of the wind, the result attests to his good form. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to use our first option since Sam was feeling very good today. Except for some cuts and scrapes, nothing dramatic happened to Zak and Sam,” Enrico Poitschke said after the stage.

Today’s second stage of the Arctic Race of Norway started in Honningsvåg, which is around 30 kilometers south of the North Cape, where yesterday’s first stage ended. With its 207 kilometers, the longest stage of the tour went straight through the county of Finnmark to Alta. The day’s only mountain classification was once again held on the “North Cape Tunnel Summit”, though today it was on the southern end of the 6875 meter tunnel.

As is typical for flat stages, a lead group was able to form early on. At kilometer 22, before the day’s only mountain classification, the field allowed four riders from smaller teams to break away. Despite a strong headwind, the quartet was allowed to build up as much as an 8-minute lead. In the end, however, the escapees were caught 15 kilometers before the finish line following a controlled pursuit, which also involved Team NetApp-Endura. The sprint finale was overshadowed by a mass crash eight kilometers before the finish line, which also took down two of Team NetApp-Endura’s riders, Sam Bennett and Zak Dempster.

“Given tomorrow’s difficult arrival, we will try to get Paul to the front so he can hold onto his good position in the general classification,” Enrico Poitschke said, revealing the strategy for tomorrow’s pinnacle stage. The 132 kilometer stage will begin in Alta and end with a summit finish on Kvænangsfjellet, a beautiful fjord with a 6.9-km climb.