photo credit @ Tour of Norway
Today’s stage 3 of the Tour of Norway served as the race’s queen stage, and according to organizers, it was the most challenging route the race has ever seen.
The 181.3-kilometer race included a Category 2 climb followed by an 11-km long Category 1 climb to Flisetjønn. To add to the difficulty, the temperatures at the summit hovered around freezing, along with a mix of snow and strong winds.
The day’s five-man breakaway group, as an all Scandinavian affair, who succeeded in building up a substantial advantage of nearly 9 minutes over the peloton. However, the escapees were eventually caught at the base of the Flisetjønn.
From there, a series of new attacks got underway, with an elite group of climbers emerging at the front.
Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff-Saxo) was the first rider to crest the summit. And, from there, he quickly established a slight gap for himself. And, despite a formidable chase by Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka), Hansen managed to hold onto his lead – and go on for a solo victory.
Top 20 Finishers
1 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 4:46:30 2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka 0:37:00 3 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:04 4 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky 5 Andreas VANGSTAD 6 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Cult Energy Pro Cycling 7 Odd Christian EIKING 0:01:29 8 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 9 Vegard Stake LAENGEN 10 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha General Classification
General Classification
1 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 3 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha 4 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha 5 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 6 Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha 7 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka 9 Nick Dougall (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 10 Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka
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