Katusha's Alexander Kristoff maintained his run of form with victory on the opening stage of the Tour Des Fjords in Norway.
This was Fabian Cancellera's first race back and he was in the peloton which had let six riders in van Empel, Van Zandbeek, Meijers, Gjølberg, Erland, and Gustavsson. get 2.40 with seventy kilometres of a 177km stage from Bergen to Norheimsund.
Ronan Van Zandbeek wrapped up most of the KOM points, taking thirteen in total and as the peloton gained on the escapers, there was a crash involving a number of riders and one of the motorbikes. Thankfully, no injuries were reported and the riders were able to get back on their way.
Van Zandbeek was first on the Norheimsund.climb which the riders had to tackle twice, followed by van Hecke and van Empel as they led by twenty two seconds.
Fabian Cancellera punctured as the attacks started and teams started to reel them in after the escaping trio had been caught.
Twenty to thirty riders were now in a front group with 6.4kms to go but it was the riders from Katusha who were strongest and they delivered Alexander Kristoff to the victory in 4.31.35, followed by his team mate Marco Haller, Darryl Impey, Sbaragli, Valgren, Andersen, Marcato, Barbero, Guldhammer and Andersen.
It’s been a great season so far," said Kristoff to the Katusha press office. "I think the main part of this success is the team that has continued to work for and support me. We have a very strong group and we work very well together.
"You can see today that we are numbers 1 and 2 and this is a fantastic result. I’m happy to win here in my “home” race. I’m still not quite at my real home but I’m getting closer.
"It was quite slippery in the corner coming to the finish line and I lost Haller’s wheel a little bit at that moment, but I came back to him. Then when he started it was perfect timing, such a good lead out. At 350 m to go I saw he was still sprinting for second place and it was just great to see that."
Marco Haller said: "With this strong team we had everything under control thanks for Jacopo Guarnieri and Dmitriy Kozonchuk. They controlled so well. We were confident on the climb and the team never panicked. We just stuck together and at the top we were in good position.
"At 600-700 m to go it was a little bit tricky but we had the right move and the right timing also thanks to Simon Špilak and Sven Erik Bystrøm. I think it’s great that we take first and 2nd. We have real power in our squad. I am working for Alex here and we want him to win this – it’s his home Tour. Winning with him feels like I’m winning myself and I’m very happy finishing off second."