Arctic Race of Norway 2017 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 11, 2017

Arctic Race of Norway 2017 – Stage 2 – Sjøvegan – Bardufoss : 184,5 km

The Arctic Race of Norway is an annual multiple stage bicycle race held in northern Norway. The first edition was in 2013, from 8 August to 11 August, and lasted for four days. The organising partners are Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Arctic Race of Norway (AS).

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) won stage 2 of the Arctic Race of Norway after he took flight in the novel bunch sprint on the runway at Bardufoss Airport. The freshly-crowned European champion delivered a powerful effort in the final 200 metres to claim a dominant victory ahead of Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) and Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

Dylan Teuns (BMC) finished safely in the main peloton to retain his overall lead. The Belgian succeeded in clipping off the front on the final lap of the finishing circuit to take third at the final intermediate sprint and pick up a bonus second for his troubles.

Truls Korsaeth (Astana) had led on the penultimate passage through the finish line after a spirited solo attack in a mammoth gear, but the Norwegian had sorely miscalculated his effort. The youngster raised his arms in celebration as he crossed the line before the sound of the bell alerted him to his error. To his credit, he survived another couple of kilometres off the front before he was pegged back by the bunch.

The race had earlier been animated by a six-man move featuring Erwann Corbel (Fortuneo-Oscaro), Dimitri Claeys (Cofidis), Elias Spikseth (Team Fixit.no), Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC-Sprandi Polkowice), Javier Megias Leal (Novo Nordisk) and Zhandos Bizhigitov (Astana), but on terrain that lent itself so obviously to a sprint finish, they were never likely to stay away.

Kristoff’s Katusha-Alpecin squad was prominent on the final lap, with Reto Hollenstein leading into the final kilometre on the wide and exposed runway, before Michael Mørkøv expertly guided Kristoff to the final 200 metres.

“We came to the Arctic Race to win a stage. Yesterday, I just missed out but today I won to keep the good run of the last few weeks,” said Kristoff, who responded to a disappointing Tour de France by winning the RideLondon Classic and the European Championships of successive weekends.

Kristoff is set to leave Katusha for UAE-Emirates at the end of the season, but he paid tribute to the cohesion of his red guard here. Kristoff received something of an armchair ride to the final sprint.

“The team did really well. Reto did a really good job, and then Michael put me in a perfect position. It was almost impossible to lose from there,” Kristoff said of the runway finale. “It was a little bit difficult to know how to handle it but we mastered it well. Michael has a good eye for this kind of sprint. He just cruised me to the front, and I knew if I stayed on his wheel, I’d win.”

Results :
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 4:14:20
2 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
3 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
4 Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
5 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
6 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Joker Icopal
7 Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini
8 Ivan Savitskiy (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
9 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
10 Lietaer Eliot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
11 August Jensen (Nor) Team Coop
12 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
13 Herman Dahl (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
14 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
15 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
16 Mc Lay Daniel (GBr) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
17 Börn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal
18 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
19 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data
20 Andreas Vangstad (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
21 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
22 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
23 Waeytens Zico (Bel) Team Sunweb
24 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
25 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
26 Trond Hakon Trondsen (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
27 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
28 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
29 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
30 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
31 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
32 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
33 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
34 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
35 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
36 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
37 Krister Hagen (Nor) Team Coop
38 Christophe Masson (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
39 Eirik Bruland (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
40 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker Icopal
41 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb
42 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
43 Marius Blålid (Nor) Team FixIt.no
44 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
45 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
46 Leon Rohde (Ger) Team Sunweb
47 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb
48 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
49 Olivier Pardini (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
50 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
51 Dhaene Brecht (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
52 Aleksey Tcatevitch (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
53 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
54 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
55 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
56 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
57 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
58 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
59 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
60 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
61 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
62 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
63 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
64 Matti Manninen (Fin) Team FixIt.no
65 Oivind Lukkedal (Nor) Team Coop
66 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Dimension Data
67 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
68 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Joker Icopal
69 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
70 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Joker Icopal
71 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
72 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
73 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
74 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
75 Håkon Lunder Aalrust (Nor) Team Coop
76 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
77 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
78 Jon Soeveras Breivold (Nor) Team FixIt.no
79 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
80 Ole Andre Austevoll (Nor) Team Coop
81 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
82 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) Joker Icopal
83 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
84 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
85 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
86 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
87 Haavard Blikra (Nor) Team Coop
88 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
89 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
90 Boris Vallee (Bel) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
91 Mikel Aristi (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:13
92 Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:16
93 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:19
94 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:43
95 Vanbilsen Kenneth (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:56
96 Karl Patrick Lauk (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:01:00
97 Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:01:18
98 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
99 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:01:28
100 Kenny Molly (Bel) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
101 Chetout Loïc (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
102 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:02:44
103 Mathias Skjold (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
104 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
105 Åsmund Romstad Løvik (Nor) Team FixIt.no
106 Bjørnar Vevatne Øverland (Nor) Team FixIt.no
107 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo – Vini Fantini
108 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
109 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:58
110 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:03:37
111 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:05:29
112 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
113 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
114 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
115 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:05:34
116 Welten Bram (Ned) BMC Racing Team
117 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
118 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
119 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
120 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:08:55
121 Corbel Erwann (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
122 Elias Spikseth (Nor) Team FixIt.no

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 7:50:23
2 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:00:02
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:03
4 August Jensen (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:07
5 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:00:11
6 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:00:12
7 Lietaer Eliot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:00:13
8 Ivan Savitskiy (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
9 Börn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal
10 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
11 Andreas Vangstad (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
12 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
13 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker Icopal
14 Olivier Pardini (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
15 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:16
16 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:17
17 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
18 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:19
19 Waeytens Zico (Bel) Team Sunweb
20 Krister Hagen (Nor) Team Coop
21 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
22 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb
23 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
24 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
25 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:23
26 Mikel Aristi (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
27 Trond Hakon Trondsen (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør 0:00:25
28 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
29 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:00:31
30 Dhaene Brecht (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
31 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Joker Icopal
32 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:00:45
33 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
34 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
35 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
36 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
37 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
38 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
39 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
40 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:24
41 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:01:33
42 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
43 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
44 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
45 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
46 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:43
47 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:45
48 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:01:54
49 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
50 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
51 Leon Rohde (Ger) Team Sunweb
52 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
53 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
54 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
55 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) Joker Icopal
56 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:23
57 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
58 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
59 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
60 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
61 Herman Dahl (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør 0:02:34
62 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
63 Christophe Masson (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:02:51
64 Marius Blålid (Nor) Team FixIt.no 0:02:53
65 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
66 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:23
67 Aleksey Tcatevitch (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:03:24
68 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:08
69 Matti Manninen (Fin) Team FixIt.no
70 Åsmund Romstad Løvik (Nor) Team FixIt.no 0:04:17
71 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo – Vini Fantini
72 Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:21
73 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:04:28
74 Håkon Lunder Aalrust (Nor) Team Coop
75 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:04:33
76 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:21
77 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:05:24
78 Oivind Lukkedal (Nor) Team Coop
79 Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:05:27
80 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
81 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
82 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Dimension Data
83 Ole Andre Austevoll (Nor) Team Coop
84 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
85 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:41
86 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:05:51
87 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team 0:06:05
88 Vanbilsen Kenneth (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:06:10
89 Karl Patrick Lauk (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:06:23
90 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:06:34
91 Mc Lay Daniel (GBr) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro 0:06:47
92 Bjørnar Vevatne Øverland (Nor) Team FixIt.no 0:06:52
93 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:06:53
94 Welten Bram (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:07:07
95 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:08:05
96 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør 0:08:11
97 Mathias Skjold (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
98 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:08:49
99 Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:08:53
100 Chetout Loïc (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:54
101 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:09:03
102 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
103 Corbel Erwann (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro 0:09:39
104 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:09:58
105 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin 0:10:56
106 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
107 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
108 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:11:01
109 Elias Spikseth (Nor) Team FixIt.no 0:15:54
110 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:16:43
111 Eirik Bruland (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør
112 Jon Soeveras Breivold (Nor) Team FixIt.no
113 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
114 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
115 Haavard Blikra (Nor) Team Coop
116 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
117 Boris Vallee (Bel) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro 0:17:22
118 Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:17:43
119 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:18:01
120 Kenny Molly (Bel) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro 0:18:11
121 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:12
122 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:22:17