Laas but not least

August 6 th 2021 - 17:55 [GMT + 2]

Estonia’s Martin Laas of Bora-Hansgrohe upset stage favourite Alexander Kristoff in a bunch gallop in Kilpisjärvi, Finland, but the second place enabled the Norwegian to move into the lead of the overall classification, equal on time with his compatriot Markus Hoelgaard who will face the opposition the climbers like Odd Christian Eiking, Warren Barguil and Ben Hermans in the queen stage to Målselv on Saturday.

Summary - Stage 2 - #ArcticRace 2021

Five riders in the lead
 
110 riders started stage 2 in Nordkjosnbotn, heading to Kilpisjärvi, Finland, for the first ever stage finish abroad. A group of five leaders was formed quickly after the flag off, including one Norwegian, Fredrik Dversenes (Team Coop), and no less than four Belgians, namely Oliver Naesen (AG2R-Citroën), Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Fenix), Cedric Beulens (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Ceriel Desal (Bingoal Pauwels Sauce-WB). The peloton trailed by 3’ after 38km of racing. Pulling at the head of the pack, Uno-X, the team of race leader Markus Hoelgaard, made the sure the gap wouldn’t go over 3’30’’. Within 50km to go, the front group slimmed down as only Naesen, Janssens and Dversenes remained at the front with an advantage of two minutes that indicated a bunch gallop to finish with.
 


Hoelgaard tries his luck in the last intermediate sprint
 
While Janssens focused on the intermediate sprints, Dversenes gave it all for the mountain prizes and won the three KOM sprints, taking all 9 points up for grabs. He took over from Gleb Brussenskiy (Astana-Premier Tech) in the popular salmon jersey with an advantage of one point. Naesen was brought back by the pack before the intermediate sprint located right on the border between Norway and Finland. Hoelgaard tried to take the opportunity to extend his lead in the overall ranking but he was denied by Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic), third behind Janssens and Dversenes. The Frenchman therefore indicated that his captain Warren Barguil takes the winner of stage 1 very seriously with regards to the final win.
 


Kristof beaten in a tight sprint finish
 
Janssens and Dversenes were reeled in with 2km to go. Israel-Start Up-Nation seized the reins of the peloton, having designated France’s Rudy Barbier as their sprinter for his top end speed rather than Rick Zabel. Kristoff got a nice lead out from the Norwegian national team, especially Sven-Erik Bystrøm and Andreas Leknessund, but Laas came out of the box very late as there was a slightly head wind to finish and it was the proper choice. With 6’’ bonus, Kristoff had enough to be on pair with Hoelgaard and take the lead on GC before the climbers’ affair on Saturday.

06/08/2021 - Arctic Race of Norway 2021 - Nordkjosbotn / Storfjord Kilpisjärvi (177,6 km) - Martin Laas (BORA - HANSGROHE) - Vainqueur de l'étape 2
06/08/2021 - Arctic Race of Norway 2021 - Nordkjosbotn / Storfjord Kilpisjärvi (177,6 km) - Martin Laas (BORA - HANSGROHE) - Vainqueur de l'étape 2 © ARN/Thomas Maheux

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