It was a good day for Israel-Premier Tech as Corbin Strong and Riley Sheehan sprinted to first and second place in the opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway.
The pair bided their time to perfection, sprinting off the wheels of their rivals inside the final 200 metres with Strong taking the day's victory and the first leader's jersey in Harstad. Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility) was third.
Karsten Larsen Feldmann (Coop-Repsol) got the early jump in the sprint, but as he faded in the closing few hundred metres, he was passed by both Strong, Sheehan and Tiller. Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling) was fourth, Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) was fifth, leaving Feldman in sixth place on the day.
"I've had a nice run in the middle of the season," said Strong in a post-race interview, referencing his recent overall victory at Tour de Wallonie. "I did training camp, and I'm enjoying racing with the guys.
"I think we've had a really good environment since getting the win in Wallonie and a fresh stage today as well. Things are going well, and I'm enjoying racing my bike."
Strong now leads the general classification with four seconds ahead of Sheehan, Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) and Romain Combaud (Picnic PostNL) as the race heads into stage 2 from Tennevoll (Lavangen) to Sørreisa on Friday.
"I enjoy the pressure, actually. I enjoy feeling the pressure of the guys putting in their best to help me. Everyone in the sport trains hard, and to see the work my teammates put in and the way they sacrifice for me in a race really motivates me.
"I enjoy the pressure and really enjoy when it pays off, I can perform and pay my teammates back."
How it unfolded
Under wet conditions, the peloton embarked on a lumpy 182km opening stage at the Arctic Tour of Norway from Borkenes (Kvæfjord) to Harstad.
A large loop and a smaller loop included three ascents over the category 2 Storjorda summit (1.5km at 7.1%) and once over the Sollia summit (1.8km at 4.2%) with a hilly course into the finish line.
Kevin Inkelaar (Unibet Tietema Rockets) won the full points over the top of the Storjorda summit before an early breakaway emerged that included Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), Romain Combaud (Picnic-PostNL), Abram Stockman (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Vetle Torin Eskedal (Sandnes Sykleklubb), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Coop-Repsol) and Georg Rydningen Martinsen (Lillehammer CK).
Picnic PostNL, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, and Cofidis managed the gap at 1:25 mid-race, but it dropped to just 45 seconds over the Sollia summit with 50km remaining and fully reeled in the last 30km.
An attack inside 10km to go saw Sven Erik Bystrøm (Groupama-FDJ), Eirik Vang Aas (Coop-Repsol) and Yentl Vandevelde (Flanders-Baloise) gain a small gap as Total Energies led the chase along the slick roads leading into Harstad.
The trio were caught on the wide and sweeping bends along the highways inside 3km as the teams with powerful sprinters lined out, passing under the dark overpasses, and then back out onto the rain-soaked roads into the undulating final kilometre.
The field raced through a 90-degree turn in the final 900 metres and then over heavily-painted roundabouts, which made the lead-in to the sprint somewhat nerve-wracking, but there were no accidents as the peloton barrelled into the final 400 metres with Uno X Mobility and Israel-Premier Tech on the front.
Team Coop-Repsol led the field into the final stretch with Feldmann launching an early sprint, but it was Strong and Sheehan who crossed the line to take a 1-2 for Israel-Premier Tech.
Results
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