After yesterday’s huge chaos, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) got his revenge in the second stage of the Tour des Fjords as he powered to victory in the tough second stage of the race. Having made it over a tough climb in the reduced peloton and even contributed to the chase personally, the local hero was in a class of his own when he came around Leigh Howard (IAM) in the sprint to take his first victory in this year’s race. Nikolai Trusov (Tinkoff) completed the podium and Howard retained the lead.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Alexander Kristoff: Nils Politt did the job of a full team

Perfect work from a teammate and a solid sprint up the middle of the course gave Alexander Kristoff his tenth win of the 2016 season, this one coming on home soil in the 2016 Tour des Fjords with a finish in Odda.

 

“That was a hard climb at the end and the attacks came quite early. I should have tried to follow earlier because afterwards it was more flat, but I ended up doing it at my own speed. Nils Politt was the only guy left for me and he was pulling and pulling on the climb. He did an amazing job – he literally pulled for the entire climb. We finally got some help on the downhill, but he was pulling until 2 km to go. He did a job by himself equal to a full team; it was amazing,” said Alexander Kristoff.

 

All Team Katusha did a great job during the day, protecting Alexander Kristoff from the start. In the second part of the distance Dmitriy Kozonchuk started to work in front of the group, chasing hardly the daily breakaway.

 

With the break caught at under 10 km to go, attacks came often in the closing kilometers, but coming into the sprint, Kristoff felt plenty of power to take the win on the long 212,5 km stage beginning in Stord. Joining him on the daily podium were Leigh Howard of IAM Cycling and Nikolay Trusov of Tinkoff. Howard leads the GC by 2-seconds to Alexander Kristoff.

 

“In the sprint I felt quite strong, but I want to emphasize that I never would have come to the sprint without Politt pulling like he did. He brought me into perfect position. To do that alone was impressive. Without him today I would not be standing here as the winner. But also, I want to thank all the team for support today,” said Kristoff.

 

“It was hard on the climb and we were with only one rider. Nils Politt did an insanely good job. He should have 90 percent of the credit. Without him, there would be no victory.

 

“It was a dangerous break, and I had to help Politt a bit. He had to have some strength left for the final.

 

“Howard was on my wheel when he started the sprint, but I we had been through a long day and did not want to start too early. I took his wheel and passed him in the end.

 

“Yesterday I was pretty far down. It did not go as I had hoped. I think this was a better day for everyone.

 

“I was a little surprised that Howard survived the climb today. He can be a hard nut to crack.”

 

Leigh Howard aims for podium spot after strong start in Norway

IAM sports director Lionel Marie said:

 

“Leigh Howard can definitely aim for the podium in the overall classification for the Tour des Fjords. Today we played our cards well, even if in the end Leigh was left alone for the final sprint. Roger Kluge and especially Stef Clement drove the peloton in order to recapture the breakaway of five riders since neither Katusha nor BMC came to help us. The main thing is that we managed to keep the yellow jersey.”

 

Howard said:

 

“I tried to anticipate Kristoff’s sprint, but he was really just too strong.  I kept the jersey, and that’s the most important thing, especially in view of all the great work my teammates did.  I hope that I am feeling even better for the two climbs scheduled for Friday’s very long stage, since I had to dig into reserves to get through today’s difficult stage in order to keep my position.”

 

Suffering from a terrible cold, Sondre Holst Enger was missing the required strength and reserves to continue, so had to abandon during the second stage.

 

Nikolai Trusov on the podium after strong sprint in Norway

A late climb 20km from the end of the stage split the bunch, but this didn’t stop Nikolay Trusov going for glory, narrowly missing the win and taking 3rd on today’s stage.

 

After the confusion at the finish on yesterday’s stage, the decision was made by commissaires to neutralise the result, meaning all riders started the day with the same time as yesterday’s stage winner, with the GC decided by time bonuses from stage 1. Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, believed this was the right decision on the part of the race organisers.

 

“It was very fair to neutralise the stage – it was the right thing to do. What happened should not have happened so it really was the best decision. Some riders took the opportunity to take advantage of the confusion, while there were others who had been working hard the entire day who didn’t have a chance to contest the stage who otherwise would have been able to, so this is fair.”

 

After several attempts at a breakaway, a group of eight made their way up the road after the race made it out of the tunnel without any significant splits in the peloton. Hoffman explained from the finish how the stage panned out.

 

“From fairly early on there were eight guys in front. They made the most of a fast five minutes to create their advantage and they kept their distance more or less the whole time.”

 

With their eyes on a sprint finish in the flat final kilometre, Hoffman explained that some of the other teams were pushing hard to pull the break back in.

 

“Katusha took control to bring in the escape, and two guys came back from the break while others went across to join them. There were some big splits going ahead, then being brought back before a nasty crash brought ten riders down – but nothing too bad happened there hopefully.”

 

Heavy rain had made the roads slippery and it was a struggle for many to stay upright with the fast pace at the finish, but Nikolay Trusov worked hard to stay on the wheels of the sprinters and used them to his advantage, taking 3rd on the line.

 

Of the day’s outcome, Hoffman was pleased with the performance of the Russian rider, as well as the stagiaire, Lorenzo Fortunato, who had finished well on yesterday’s stage. With around fifty riders competing for the win, this was a demanding finish after a hard day’s riding.

 

“It was a great 3rd place for Nikolay and Lorenzo was up there too. There was a big split in the peloton with the climb to the finish but Nikolay managed to hold on, and he managed to get a good wheel in the sprint and really went for it. I’m really happy with the result, happy for Nikolay and for the team.”

 

Stage 3 sees the Tour Des Fjords first big climbs. Two peaks dominate the parcours of the 220km stage, which will really be felt by riders on another long day’s racing. With the big climbs only halfway through the stage however, there was every chance of the sprinters making up time lost on the climbs, as Hoffman explained.

 

“It’s still a long way to the finish after the climb – if they go full gas, the sprinters might be able to pull it back in – it really could go both ways – we’ll have to see what happens on the climb and go from there.”

 

In-form Alexander Kamp close to victory in Norway, Rasmus Guldhammer crashes

Stage 2 of the Tour des Fjords (2.1) led from Stord to Odda over 202.3 km, and Team Stölting Service Group was active all day. First, Michael Reihs made the break of the day, and in the final Alexander Kamp tried to attack. When he didn’t get away from the peloton, Kamp instead sprinted to a very good fourth place.

 

The start of the stage featured a special climb starting in the tunnel below the Bømlafjord. The lowest point of the stage at -260 m was reached after 25.5 km, then the road climbed to the ‘mountain sprint’ at an altitude of 59 m six kilometres later. The peloton split in two groups on this climb, but soon everything was back together. After the climb, eight riders including Michael Reihs broke away and rode ahead, gaining an advantage of up to five minutes.

 

The break fell apart on the Grostøl climb with about 25 km to go, and while Reihs was caught by the peloton, a couple of riders attacked from the bunch and bridged to the last remaining escapee. This group was reeled in with 10 km left to race, and Alexander Kamp was one of the riders trying to attack in the final. The Danish champion didn’t get a gap, though, and refocused on the sprint where he placed fourth behind stage winner Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha). Kamp is now 14th in the overall classification, Christian Mager is seventh due to the bonus seconds he won yesterday.

 

“It was another hard stage, but we raced very well as a team,” said Sports Director André Steensen. “We were very active in the beginning of the stage, and Michael Reihs got away with seven others. They were caught on the final climb, and the peloton exploded completely. We had Rasmus Guldhammer, Alexander Kamp, and Christian Mager in the first group, and Kamp made a move, but IAM and Katusha controlled the race. So Mager supported Kamp and Guldhammer for the sprint instead; unfortunately, Rasmus crashed with 2 km to go. After his attack, Kamp still placed fourth in the sprint, that’s a very nice result after a good team performance. Regarding Rasmus it’s still uncertain whether or not he can start tomorrow. But he’s a fighter and will do everything to race tomorrow if it’s at all possible.”

 

Aggressive Damiano Caruso animates the Tour des Fjords

Damiano Caruso scored his second top ten finish in Norway on Tour des Fjords Stage 2 as he found himself battling it out at the business end of the day's bunch sprint eventually crossing the line in eighth place.

 

BMC Racing Team were active at the front of the peloton for most of the day with stagiaire Fabian Lienhard pulling hard to help bring the breakaway's lead down to inside one minute before a group of riders including Damiano Caruso attacked with 20km and were able to bridge the gap to the race leaders.

 

The race came back together with 10km to go and despite attacks off the front of the peloton, including one from Michael Schär, today's stage win came down to a final bunch sprint for the line won by Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha).

 

Damiano Caruso said:

 

"Today was another demanding day because of the rain and the also the climbs on the day's program. We knew our big chance was 20km before the line where there was a climb where could try and drop the sprinters. Fabian Lienhard and Floris Gerts did a super job to help bring the breakaway back and then I attacked early on the climb. I was in a group of 8 riders but unfortunately we found no harmony to make it to the line. The peloton eventually caught us and I went for the sprint. Joey Rosskopf did an impressive ride to bring me and Schär to the last kilometer. Then Schär delivered me into the sprint at 200m to go. I gave everything that I had left for the sprint but perhaps I spent too much energy in my breakaway as my sprint was not so explosive."

 

Sports director Yvon Ledanois added:

 

"We have one plan at this race and that's to race aggressively. With 20 kilometers to go it it seemed like the perfect time to attack and Damiano had good legs and did an excellent job there but with 40 to 50 riders chasing hard behind it was going to be hard to stay out front.

 

"The race doesn't finish until we cross the line on Sunday and we will keep trying right up until that point. It was a long day today and the pace was very fast at the beginning but for sure the guys are looking strong and I trust that they will continue to give it everything. Tomorrow is a hard stage and we will take each moment as it comes."

 

Bad luck for Novo Nordisk climber at Tour des Fjords

Team Novo Nordisk was eager for a better result after yesterday’s challenging stage 1, and David Lozano (ESP) was determined to lead the charge.

 

At 20km to go, the gap for the leaders had been reduced to less than 1:00, and a few riders started to attack off the front. The race was all back together with 10km to go, and Lozano remained at the front. But unfortunately, with 6km to go, a rider split the group on the descent, and Lozano was unable to regain his position. Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) went on to the stage win, and Lozano finished with the chase group at 43rd, 1:05 behind Kristoff.

 

“Today, I’m really disappointed” Lozano said, ”because I had good legs the all day. I’m happy with how I’m feeling, but I’m frustrated with losing so many chances. Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a really hard day because of the forecasted weather, so we need to recover and try to do better.”