photo credit@Tour of Norway
Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) won stage 5 of this years Tour of Norway, beating Jean-Pierre Drucker and Gerald Ciolek in a sprint finish.
Meanwhile, Maciej Paterski won the overall race, taking over the lead from Marc De Maar who came in second. Bauke Mollema rounded out the podium in third spot.
"Before coming to this race, I didn’t have in mind to win it because I just concluded one week rest and I came to Norway to prepare for the Tour de Suisse," Paterski told Cyclingnews. "But during the race, it appeared that I had a chance to win it, so my team made the race hard yesterday and today comes this happy ending. It’s a very prestigious victory, the most important of my life. I’m very happy, thanks to my team.
"I was more focused on winning the stage so I am really surprised as I did not expect this success. However, we did well all race and took a great result. I would like to thank the entire team. I think everybody could see how my team rallied around me thoughout the race, it was amazing. I am happy and very grateful."
"I am very pleased with the attitude, not only of Maciek Paterski but of the whole team," sports director Piotr Wadecki said. "This is a success for all the riders who worked hard during the entire race. The did very well each day and showed themselves in each stage. Everbybody has been giving it their maximum which was enough to secure this fantastic result.
"Both this year and last year, I can see that our efforts to become one of the best teams in the world, start to pay off. We follow out plan by mainly doing foreign races and big events in Poland. In my opinion this is the only way to create a Polish team that can successfully compete in one of the grand tours in the future."
Results, Stage 5:
1. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 2. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Wanty-Groupe Goubert) s.t. 3. Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) s.t. 4. Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat) s.t. 5. Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling) s.t. 6. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) s.t. 7. Bjørn Tore Hoem (Sparebanken Sør) s.t. 8. Sondre Holst Enger (Sparebanken Sør) +5
Overall:
1. Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat) 21’14’56 2. Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) +3 3. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) +9
Tour of Norway 2014 Stage 5 jerseys
Leader Maciej Paterski
Sprint Alexander Kristoff
KOM Amund Groedndahl Jansen
Young Rider Jesper Hansen
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