Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) secured the victory in a crash-marred bunch sprint on stage 2 at the Arctic Race of Norway.
The Norwegian sprinter led the race through the final right-hand corner in the last few hundred metres, and sprinted off the front of the field, opening a gap and crossing the line with a commanding win ahead of runner-up Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech) and third-placed Karsten Larsen Feldmann (Team Coop-Repsol) in Sørreisa.
How it Unfolded
After the previous day’s rain-soaked stage into Harstad, the peloton was greeted with blue skies and sunshine at the start of stage 2 in Tennevoll (Lavangen). They raced along a 166.5km course with three categorised ascents at Lapphaugen, Gratangsbotn and Lavangseidet summits before reaching an undulating final half and finishing circuits that offered three gravel sectors and time bonuses before finishing in Sørreisa.
A five-rider breakaway settled out front of the peloton during the opening 40km of the race that included Josh Burnett (Burgos-BH), Morthen Wang Baksaas (Team Ringerikskraft), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Team Coop–Repsol) and Georg Rydningen Martinsen (Lillehammer CK Continental Team), with Eirik Vang Aas (Team Coop–Repsol) later bridging across, with Baksaas picking up full points over the summits.
The quintet held a margin of 1:10 at the halfway point with teams Israel–Premier Tech, XDS Astana Team, and Uno-X Mobility, but that increased to a minute and a half as the race approached the final circuits.
Baksaas was distanced from the breakaway over the gravel sector with 20km remaining, while…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…