Boasson Hagen takes first victory of the year

Edvald Boasson Hagen would show his class at the final Tour des Fjords stage and took an emphatic stage victory. Edvald was part of a late 4 man escape and the Norwegian star was able to out sprint Daryl Impey (Orica-Greenedge) and Marco Haller (Katusha) for his first victory of the season.

As the race hit the final climb of the day, Pig Hill, Edvald would put in a strong attack from the peloton that only Impey, Haller and Sven Erik Bystrom (Katusha) could match. The quartet would catch and pass the early 5 rider break of the day on the steep 20% slopes of Pig Hill, and then Edvald would force the pace over the top ensuring the 4 would go clear.

With 7km to the finish from the top of the hill and only 8″ to play with, the 4 leaders had to put their heads down and go for it, and that they did. With Haller only needing 7″ to win the tour overall and having his teammate Bystrom in the move, it certainly helped the chances of the break surviving. All 4 riders would fully commit to the move and with 3km to go the gap had grown to 24″.

Going under the red kite, Bystrom led it out followed by Haller, Impey and then Edvald. Haller opened the sprint first with 400m to go and Edvald waited for 200m to go before launching his final effort. Edvald just had too much speed for Impey and Haller as he came passed them to cross the line first. Kristian Sbaragli made the day just that bit sweeter as he was 2nd in the sprint from the peloton, claiming 6th place.

The victory concludes what has been a great two weeks of racing in Norway. The team came close to victory many times both this week and last week but finally today, Africa’s team would get its deserved win. With his win today, Edvald moved into 7th place on the GC and Kristian would hang on to 10th overall as well with Haller securing the yellow jersey.