Grmay goes close in Tour Des Fjords, pulls on KOM Jersey

The 2nd stage of Tour des Fjords came down to a bunch sprint and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) prevailed to win the stage. Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen) came 2nd and Sondre Enger (Team Sparebanken) was the 3rd placed rider. Kristian Sbaragli was again in the mix for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung, the Italian sprinted to 8th place.

It was not your run of the mil sprint stage for the Team MTN-Qhubeka supporters though as Tsgabu Grmay had everyone on the edge of their seats in a solo breakaway that nearly paid off. Originally the Ethiopian champion was in a break of 4 riders that went clear around the 75km mark. The quartet built up a lead of just over 12 minutes, the substantial lead caused panic stations in the pelton and a furious chase began. The lead was reduced rapidly but the escapees pushed on.

With 33km to go, the lead dropped below a minute and Grmay decided this was his que to take off. While the remnants of the break were caught, Grmay was able to push out his lead to almost 3 minutes again. With 12km to go, race radio reported a lead of still 2 minutes. Just as our hopes of Grmay claiming his first European victory came about, race radio announced “all together” with 8km’s still remaining. The sprint finish then followed as Katusha delivered Kristoff to the line. All was not lost for Grmay though, his exploits in the break today made sure the King of the Mountains would be on his shoulders this evening.

Directeur Sportif – Manel Lacambra

coming soon

Stage Results