Edvald Boasson Hagen made it two out of two when he won the final stage of the Tour of Norway earlier today. 2nd place went the way of Sondre Holst Enger (Norway) and August Jensen (Coop-Osterhuis) finished in 3rd. The overall victory was taken by Pieter Weening (Roompot).
It was another wet and windy day to end off this year’s edition of the Tour of Norway. As the riders took on 163km from Drobak to Sarpsborg, 2 riders got away and the peloton gave them a maximum lead of 5 minutes. Roompot started the intial chase and then it was our Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka and the Team Norway riders who came to assist. Adrien Niyonshuti did an incredible job once again, pulling on the front for most of the stage.
The stage ended with 3 laps of a really tough circuit which included a hard 1.5km climb. Boasson Hagen had come to see the circuit a few weeks ago and so our team went into the stage with a clear plan. The 2 rider break was caught as expected and the stage would be decided on the final circuit. Our African Team did a great job once again to keep Edvald in prime position for the start the all-important final climb.
Boasson Hagen put in a few testing surges on the climb and the fatigue in the peloton was noticeable. So near the top of the hill our Norwegian star accelerated away from the group and never looked back. With 6.5km to go to the line, Boasson Hagen totally emptied the tank and it was enough, as he crossed the line 8 seconds ahead of a charging peloton. The result also saw Boasson Hagen finish the race in 2nd position overall.
Edvald Boasson Hagen – Rider
Oli Cookson – Sport Director
