Michael Albasini sprints to victory in second stage of Tour des Fjords
May 24 2018 12:24 am CET
Mitchelton-Scott
Michael Albasini has won the second stage in the Tour des Fjords. In a reduced group sprint the Swiss Mitchelton-Scott rider proved to have the fastest legs, ahead of Roompot's Pim Ligthart and Sky's Kristoffer Halvorsen. Fabio Jakobsen from Quick Step finished 8th and remains on top of the overall classification
With Jakobsen in the blue jersey of the leader of the overall classification, the peloton left Risør for a 190 kilometre and mostly flat course taking the riders to Kristiansand. A lot was expected from the young Norwegian Kristoffer Halvorsen, as a few kilometres before the finish the peloton came by the house of the Sky rider's parents.
Michal Gogl (Trek-Segafredo), Floris Gerts (Roompot) and Aksel Aasheim (Joker-Icopal) also started the race with a lot of motivation, as they formed the early breakaway. They got a maximum advantage of 2:30 back to the peloton, where Quick-Step controlled the pace. Gerts took the points on the first KOM, ahead of Gogl and Aasheim.
After gathering some bonus seconds in the two intermediate sprints, Gogl let his companions go and retook his place in the peloton. This was the sign for the peloton to slow down a little and give the front of the race a little more breathing space. However, the leaders were brought back before the second KOM, with Carlos Verona (Mitchelton-Scott) taking the points.
In the hilly finale there were a lot of attacks, but in the end a group of about 40 riders started the last 3 km together, among them were race leader Jakobsen and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data). The reduced peloton was heading towards the expected bunch sprint which was won by Michael Albasini. The Swiss Mitchelton-Scott rider took his first win of the season.
By Siebe Kok
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