Davide Rebellin was 3rd on stage 4 of Tour of Norway. The Italian made the podium thanks to a smart and patient ride in the hard finale.
 

The very demanding stage from Rjukan do Geilo, which featured two cat. 1 climbs and an uphill finish, kicked off with many breakaway attempts. The escape was finally formed about 35 kilometers into the race and it included Bob Jungels (Trek) and Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Soudal). Sindre Lunke (Joker) was trying to bridge across but eventually gave up and came back to the group.

The leading duo established a solid advantage of over 6 minutes. With 47 kilometers to go, Jungels left Ligthart behind on a hill and went solo. It appeared that the gap was big enough for him to arrive at the finish before the peloton. With 37km to go it was still 6:10. This is when Tinkoff-Saxo began the chase. They set a very high pace in the bunch and closed the gap. Jungels was reeled in 12 kilometers from the end.

Despite a few late attacks, a big group started the final 2-kilometer climb. Davide Rebellin was patient and waited until others make their moves. He used his experience and instead of attacking himself, he was following other riders. In the very finalem Amets Txurruka accelerated from a 4-man leading group with Rebellin, David Lopez, and Jesper Hansen. The Caja Rural - Seguros RGA rider claimed a victory, Lopez took second and Rebellin won the battle against Hansen for the top 3.

"My form begins to improve after the break from racing caused by a shoulder injury. Today it was a good test for me and it turned out pretty well. Maybe the result could have been even better, because I'm much better when I race in heat, rather than cold weather. Here in Norway the temperatures are very low and I can not give 100% in such conditions," Davide Rebellin said afterwards. 

Tomorrow is the last stage of the race. It also ends with an uphill finish, but it won’t be as hard as today.