Bryan Coquard outsprints Mathieu van der Poel in Svolvær
August 16 th 2019 - 18:15
Bryan Coquard became the first Frenchman to win a stage at the Arctic Race of Norway. At the end of stage 2 in Svolvær, with the wonderful scenery of the Lofoten islands as a backdrop, he outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel who extended his lead in the overall classification ahead of the queen stage. The Dutch prodigy has put his hands up for defending his “midnight sun” jersey up to the Storheia summit.
Four Scandinavians in the lead
117 riders started stage 2 of the 7th Arctic Race of Norway in Henningsvær at 14.08. Erik Nordsætter Resell (Uno-X Norwegian Development Team), Henrik Evensen (Joker Fuel of Norway), Viking of the Day Håkon Aalrust (Team Coop) and Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Riwal Readynez Cycling Team) got clear off the peloton after 2km of racing. Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Cycling Academy) went in between. The deficit of the peloton led by the team-mates of race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) reached 2’ at km 10. Van Asbroeck kept losing time and surrendered just before the first intermediate sprint at Lofoten Links (km 18.5) where the bunch was timed 3’15’’ behind Mørch Kongstad, Resell and Evensen who crossed the line in that order. The leading quartet made of three Norwegians and a Dane covered 46.4km in the first hour of racing.
Markus Hoelgaard’s brave attack near the end
Former Belgian champion and double winner of the Tour of Flanders Stijn Devolder did a lot of work at the head of the pack to maintain the time gap at a maximum of 3’30’’. Several teams interested in a bunch sprint finish in Svolvær took over from Corendon-Circus before the last hour of racing: Vital Concept-B&B Hôtels, Delko Marseille, Wallonie-Bruxelles, Cofidis, Wanty-Groupe Gobert. Mørch Kongstad crossed the line the of the second intermediate sprint in first position with 33.5km to go while the time difference was 1’50’’. 15km before the end, Aalrust and Resell sped up in order to keep the breakaway alive. Resell forged on by himself with 8km remaining. He got reined in just before the last intermediate sprint won by his team-mate Markus Hoelgaard with 5km to go. The wearer of the best young rider jersey continued on his own.
Danny van Poppel in the gutter
It was all together again 2km before the end. Danny van Poppel, second on stage 1, was diverted to the grass by a wave in the peloton with 1.5km to go and that meant one top sprinter was out of contention. Cofidis gave a strong lead out to Christophe Laporte but it was Coquard who timed it at perfection and didn’t give room to Van der Poel to overhaul him. It was the eighth victory of the 27 year old French rider this year while the Dutchman has now 9’’ lead over Alexey Lutsenko and Hoelgaard.