Van Hummel steals the show on inaugural stage
Kenny van Hummel was the winner of Stage 1 of the Arctic Race of Norway. It was a 1-2 for Vacansoleil-DCM with Barry Markus passing Thor Hushovd at the very end. Norwegian champion Hushovd was highly expected to be the winner but the cold and windy conditions took their toll.
Hushovd early in action
The first action of the race started fast. People had painted the roads like in the Tour de France. 48 kilometers were covered in the first hour which didn’t see much in the way of breakaways. Hushovd started with the first sprint line where he got the time bonus.
Belin on the Move
The hills halfway into the race inspired Belkin Pro Cycling. Their aggressive racing propelled 8 men to the front with 70k to go. Nordhaug, Vanmarcke, Haller, Tulik, Vogondy, Neirinck, Delfosee and Eidsheim were all there.
Nordhaug and Vanmarcke’s chances increased in the last 20k. They maintained an advantage of 50 seconds for awhile. At 8k to go the peloton had reassembled. It seemed like Argos-Shimano was controlling the finish sprint but Kenny Van Hummel outsprinted everyone as he chose the right path on the lreft side of the road in the last 200 meters.
Van Hummel: “It feels great to win again.”
I’M really happy with this victory. “I’ve waited for a long time to get my first win this year. I’m glad it happened here and now. We’re not used to racing so far north and it’s a bit of a climate change after the hot weather I recently experienced in Belgium. I wa a bit surprised to see so many spectators on the road despite the cold. The race was also hard today and I was struggling a bit. But at the end, I managed to fight well for positioning. I was in competition with Hushovd, it was a great challenge to beat him here as he was so motivated for winning his country. But I wanted to position mysel fbehind the wheels of the Argos guys and I did. In the last 200 meters, I went full speed. It fell sgreat to be a winner again.”
