Inépuisable Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) ! À 38 ans, le Norvégien a remporté ce vendredi la 2e étape de l'Arctic Race of Norway au sprint, la 98e victoire de sa carrière, au cours d'un final agité qui a vu le vainqueur de la veille Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) chuter. Alexander Kristoff a largement dominé le sprint final, s'imposant devant le Belge Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech) et le Norvégien Karsten Feldmann (Team Coop-Repsol). Pas de changement au général, Corbin Strong reste leader malgré sa lourde chute.
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00:30Our glorious leader is Corbyn Strong, by a margin of four seconds, courtesy of all the bonuses that were factored out.
00:41But what about stage two? Destination Ceresa, 166.5 kilometres of absolute torture, save for the fact that the sun popped out and indeed blessed us with some fine weather, allowing us to see the magnificent scenery on the way.
00:57Big climbs out of the back door, that tempted Ingebrigtsen to enhance his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.
01:04And then it was about the brave who would bridge over to them, indeed who would have the legs to finish off the job.
01:10Well, that job was going to be made all the more difficult by a gravel section that popped up within our circuit that had to be taken just around two and a half times.
01:21Three times over the gravel, though, and the trolls were out there and so were the monsters who would indeed try and eat into a sprint that was surely bound to happen.
01:30The breakaway tried its best to stay away and were cohesive, in fact, but Corbyn Strong looked untroubled and we were starting to wonder about, of course, the legs of the likes of Tom Pitcock.
01:41Would he be saving himself for the big day tomorrow or would he go all in with the gravel section that would surely suit a man who thrives when it comes to mountain biking?
01:49The festival was going on just about everywhere, on water and land, but all focus was on this pitch for glory.
02:00Absolutely beautiful, a tip of wings from the Air Force as well, as if to honour those who were doing battle.
02:07Well, Eric Vang Asch had bridged over and was determined to pick up bonus seconds out there, but to try and stop him, great work by Bakshas, the youngster from the Norwegian team.
02:18Great credit to him. Would it be a glory day for, indeed, Norway, the host nation, keeping its fingers crossed for the likes of Alexander Kristoff and others who would go large?
02:28Going long? Well, team co-op Repsol had Ingebrigtsen up the road, but Van Asch was going for it solo, not to thrive, though, unfortunately.
02:39The gravel section is just too much for a solo rider, and in fact, there was a regrouping of a splitting breakaway.
02:45And then, ultimately, the peloton was to come together and have some fun at the end of the day.
02:51Transition on to asphalt, off the gravel section, always a difficult task to manage.
02:57And then, of course, it was a question of just who would be last man standing as the train came through.
03:03The chase being led by Israel Premier Tech, they had high hopes, of course, for Corbyn Strong in the leader's yellow jersey.
03:10He, safely embedded, but really the breakaway were done and dusted after the final sprint, which was, of course, taken by that man.
03:18Van Asch, just second in the first sprint, wanted more bonus seconds and got them.
03:23Well, big bonus seconds up for grabs at the last, but the honour of a stage victory was looming in everyone's mind.
03:29It was time to go racing here.
03:31Go long, go strong, if you possibly can.
03:33There was a few that decided to give it a go.
03:36The peloton was starting to thin out just a little bit, but teams getting themselves into colour order.
03:41And suddenly, it was all bunched together, trying to form a blockage to stop anyone going up the road.
03:47Still, there was those who attempted to dig in.
03:50And Kevin Van Mark, the American, bridged over and shot off on his own.
03:54Could he? Would he? Trouble the GC?
03:56He's got big ambitions for the following day, but he had it right here as well.
04:01It was a drive too far for him, though.
04:03The sprinters wanted to have their party, and they were about to get it.
04:09Ballerini is going to lead out ball, but they've got troubles here,
04:12and that's because Alexander Kristoff is on their shoulder and his touch.
04:15Oh, we've got Riders down, crashing.
04:17Corbett Strong's been taken out of him as well.
04:19We'll deal with him in a few moments' time.
04:20And still, here we come, and is he going to go long?
04:22Here's the big turn.
04:24Kristoff doesn't like a big turn, but he likes turning the wheels at moments such as this.
04:28Big pick-up going for it.
04:29Feldman wants to get involved for go-off.
04:31But Alexander Kristoff is going to scream this one out.
04:34His last race in Norway.
04:36Oh, he's done it.
04:37And done it brilliantly.
04:39Takes the day.
04:40I'm very happy to win in my final race in Norway, and I'm proud also.
04:51It's my 98th Pro win, so I still missed 2 for 100, but at least to get a win here in Arctic means a lot,
04:58because it's a long time since I win in February.
04:59So it's been a few second places, but it's not the same feeling like winning.
05:04Alexander Kristoff, the Viking, struck gold today.
05:08Well, now he got himself 50 kilos of salmon.
05:10He'll be sharing that around and hoping to do the same on the final day.
05:15Amazing.
05:16Kristoff taking it then ahead of Tom van Ersbruck, Carsten Feldman, Jules Hesses and Case Ball.
05:22Overall, Corby Strong stays in the golden jersey, finishing closer to Kristoff than Kristoff had to him the day prior.
05:29Exxon Kristoff, congratulations.
05:46There was no way you were going to leave Norway on your final year as a pro without a victory.
05:54Yeah, I missed out in the Tour of Norway in May.
05:56I just was second in my hometown on the last sprint, so I came to Arctic Race.
06:02Yeah, the team didn't pick me for the Tour selections.
06:04I was a bit disappointed.
06:06And yeah, I showed today I have still good legs, so I'm very happy to win in my final race in Norway.
06:15And I'm proud also.
06:16It's my 98th Pro win, so I still missed 2 for 100.
06:19But at least to get a win here in Arctic means a lot, because it's a long time since I win in February.
06:24So it's been a few second places, but it's not the same feeling like winning.
06:29Tell us how you did it, because it didn't happen on the gravel sector.
06:33It happened after.
06:34Great teamwork from UNOX as well.
06:35Yeah, we waited, we went away to the last 5K.
06:40Problem is to get the climbers to the front, it's hectic, you know.
06:43So I was screaming a bit on the radio on them, but when they arrived, they did an amazing job.
06:47And yeah, at the end also the way Rasmus do the last 5K, because we was lacking maybe one guy.
06:53So it was a bit long for him, but I say take the draft from Arkea, he go a little bit in the draft,
06:59and then he can hold all the way to the corner.
07:01And then, yeah, out of the corner I got a good gap, so I could just hold it to the finish line.
07:07You were not impacted by the crash?
07:09I heard it, so I thought, okay, now a few guys are probably gone, but I couldn't see it, no.
07:14As you said, 98 victories.
07:17You still have the possibility to get close to 100, maybe not tomorrow, but the day after?
07:22Yeah, Tromsø is a new chance.
07:24I did well in Tromsø before, and maybe the course actually is a bit easier.
07:29We do only laps, but the climb is maybe easier, because before it came really close to the finish line.
07:33Now it's a bit longer to the finish, so I will for sure try, but it's also up and down all day,
07:38so if it goes hard from the beginning, it's going to be a harder race again.
07:42So it depends really how we race the parkour, the race is made by the riders.
07:47So if you do it the easy way, I think I have a chance.
07:50If you do it the hard way, maybe it's too tough.
07:52Anyway, congratulations. It's already a success for you. Thank you very much.
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