On paper it seemed like an opportunity for the sprinters in Norway, but Ineos-Grenadiers thought differently. On the long climb (28 kilometers steadily uphill), the British team pushed the accelerator all the way down.
The early flight was swallowed up and most of the sprinters were thrown overboard. About 50 riders survived the uphill battle, but Ineos had another surprise in store.
On the plateau the wind was just as good and that was the signal for fans. Remco Evenepoel was not surprised, but Mads Pedersen, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Esteban Chaves, among others, were.
In an intermediate sprint, Tobias Halland Johannessen took a second behind the back of Ethan Hayter and his brother and that second would eventually become crucial.
In the sprint, Evenepoel tried to guide team mate Kasper Asgreen to victory, but Jumbo-Visma seemed to bring Mike Teunissen at the right time in the uphill sprint. The Dutchman was beaten at the finish by Ethan Hayter.
Johannessen sprinted to third place and the four bonus seconds and so the winner of last year’s Tour of the Future Evenepoel rode out of the leader’s jersey. Evenepoel is 1 second in the standings, together with Ethan Hayter, tomorrow will be a tough uphill finish.
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