Cyclisme - Arctic Race of Norway 2024 - Alexander Kristoff repeats on the 2nd stage at the Arctic
Comme 24 heures plus tôt, c'est au sprint que s'est conclue la 2e étape de l'Arctic Race of Norway... et comme à Rognan, c'est Alexander Kristoff qui a franchi la ligne en premier à Fauske ! Soutenu par une très forte équipe Uno-X Mobility, le Norvégien a parfaitement maîtrisé son sujet dans la dernière ligne droite, s'imposant avec facilité devant le Belge Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech) et son coéquipier danois Magnus Cort Nielsen. Derrière les trois coureurs qui composent le podium du jour, on retrouve Emilien Jeannière, le Français de la TotalEnergies terminant donc encore quatrième. L'Allemand Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan Team) a complété le top 5. Le maillot jaune reste bien évidemment sur les épaules d'Alexander Kristoff, mais il y aura du changement mardi puisque l'arrivée de la 3e étape sera jugée au sommet d'une montée de près de 7 kilomètres à 6,2% de moyenne.
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00:00Stage 2 of the Arctic Race. From Bajan, 178 kilometers to Vauska, the longest stage of
00:14this year's Arctic Race of Norway. Lots of nervous times, perhaps with the Queen stage
00:22still to come. Would it be one for the sprinters? Climbing straight out of the back door, this
00:27was a tough task. Mountains, you better believe it, and the man who wanted to be in that
00:34coveted jersey, the peacock jersey, found himself up front once again in the company
00:40of two from Co-op with Funja and Ingebrigtsen. Pejo also bridging over from Tudor Pro Cycling.
00:47The mountains points were up for grabs and a few other things as well, not least the
00:52stage win for somebody quick and hard. What a day in prospect, and it was time really
01:05to start winding in a break that had its head out there. An accord settled between them
01:12after a big battle for the opening KOM. Joenink almost guaranteed that jersey. Who would be
01:21guaranteed the win at the end of the day? Highly technical approach with two gravel
01:25sections and some really mean climbs in part of a double loop scenario at the very end.
01:32This is going to be a difficult task. Well, our breakaway still had an advantage at the
01:37first passage of the finish line. By the time we'd come round, we would have dealt with
01:42some gravel sections. And really, the break looked doomed. Simon Pejo, though, had belief.
01:50Joenink had done enough, we think, to secure that jersey. We'll find out in the next couple
01:56of days whether it will belong to him. The KOM would go to Simon Pejo, and no surprise,
02:03he was so very brave out there, kicking on, knowing there was a potential for a stage
02:09end. Well, sometimes obstacles present themselves, and it is the race towards them that is the
02:17problem. And we're starting to loom large, not only the last kickers, but also that coveted
02:24and desperate gravel section. We wanted it to be in the race. Please didn't. Crash, crash
02:31at the back of the van. Driving on through the dust, kicked up by the motorcycles and
02:38support cars that had to go by Simon Pejo. Everyone else was in a cloud. Once clear,
02:49dust on the wheels, some nervous times, punctures started to rain down on the unlucky. Simon
02:56Pejo took the bell. All hell about to break loose for those who have some fast legs and
03:06a strong-minded body. Here we go. Alexander Kristoff must not lose position here. He's
03:14on to the cobbles, stays with it. Van Aersbroek just on his inside here, and Kristoff still
03:20has the lead out. Almost a golden run for home, and there's some shoulders going on
03:25here as well in the battle for position. Oh, they're fighting loud and proud here, and
03:31now they come down and into town, and he's still got the lead out, Alexander Kristoff.
03:36This is almost a golden ride for him. My goodness, he's had to work hard to be in this
03:41position. Gagneri's in a good place, Tamino as well, but this now is a straight line all
03:47the way home, it seems. Oh, and he can't catch a good man sometimes. Will it be the blue
03:52jersey that rounds him at the very last here? We shall wait and see. The blue jersey is
03:57with Tom Van Aersbroek, and here comes Alexander Kristoff. Kristoff's going on the barriers.
04:02Van Aersbroek's following him at the moment. Alexander Kristoff looks like he's going
04:06to make it all the way up. No way through! Oh, the Viking delivers once again. Phenomenal.
04:12The leader of this race doubles his margin.
04:20Yeah, we had a great lead out again, and great work from Marcus and Rasmus during the stage,
04:26so I'm very happy and pleased with the team performance, and it's really cool and fun
04:30to be a part of such a good team like we are here.
04:43What a winner. Back-to-back victories for Alexander Kristoff, the Viking in charge.
04:50Van Aersbroek just trapped in by the very clever court, prevented from going by, Gianni
04:55missing out, and our glorious leader is Kristoff, staying in that coveted Midnight Sun jersey
05:02with an advantage of 10 seconds over Van Aersbroek going into the big climbing stage. He also
05:08earns points, of course, and made a big one today.
05:17Our king of the mountain. Has he done it? We think so. Johann Juk with a fantastic lead
05:23on 27 points. Peo nearest man to him on 13, and our young rider becomes Mauro Schmidt
05:32going into the Queen's stage tomorrow.