Glava Tour of Noway
May 24th, 2013

Glava Tour of Norway, Norways first 2.1 stage race ever! Our guys were in great shape, and we had huge goals for this race. We wanted the points jersey, the gc victory and at least one stage win. Unfornately, the organizors had struggled getting the best teams to their race. So I will say it wasn't a very strong start list this year.

In the sprints, our biggest opponents were probably D.Napolitano, R.Downing, A.Petit, S.Vandousselaere, A.Furlan and the norwegian super talent, S. Holst Enger. In the GC, L.Konig was our biggest compitor. P.Voss, also from Team NetApp, could possible be a danger to, along with J. Ghyselinck from Cofidis. Personally, I was very exited about V.Breen from Joker Merida. That boy have showed a lot of strenght the last years, and he could be very close a contract with a better team if he showed some results this year. All three Norwegian Continental Teams were present, and i personally had one eye pointing at them, looking for some talented riders.





The race profile is quite easy. The first 3 stages are flat, and S.Modolo have some great opportunities getting a stage win. The 4th stage are hilly, and it would most likely be desecive for the overall ranking. The last stage ends with 3 laps in Hønefoss city. A couple of short, but steep hills could also be a potential timechanger.

Stage 1



A 175 km long stage from Fredrikstad to Sarpsborg, and it is flat as a pancake. I was a bit suprised no norwegian teams wanted to show their colors, because neither of the teams were represented in the breakaway.

The breakaway consisted of J.Breyne, J.Kerby and M.Sehested. Even more surprising, Joker Merida took the controll in the main field. Who were they racing for, i asked my self. Probably K.Skjerping ,which have a decent finish, but recently got back from a collar bone injury.

We personally had a very strong team for the mountains, but only S.Collbrelli and S.Modolo were good at the flats. Therefore we had no chance to do a organized leadout, and even less chance to reel breakaways in. We hoped for some help.

And this stage we got it. Team Plussbank and Topsport Vlaanderen companied Joker Merida in the chase after a while. With 25 km to go, the break had a 1'32 lead, and it went further and further down as the finishing line closed.

Passing the 10 km to go mark, they all were together. We were ready for a bunch sprint. But then something happened, that we didn't expect at all. As the road went slightly upwards from 10 km to 5 km, the surroundings were changing. The forest disapeared, and the wind came through. We knew about the strong wind, but the massive amount of trees in the area made the wind not that important. Before this.

The speed went up, and the peleton stretched out. After a lot of attemps on going solo, no teams were organized over the top. We wasn't either. 5 km from the line, K.Skjerping attacked. I mentioned this boy before, but couldn't imagine that he would launch such a powerfull attack. Noone followed. As our riders were disorganized, S.Collbrelli tried to follow on impuls. When the terrain went flat again, 2 km from the line, a sort of organization regained in the field. But 300 meters further ahead, S.Collbrelli pedaled for his live, trying to get K.Skjerpings wheel.

With 500 meters to go, the sprint was caotic, and a little crash happened at the left side of the road. D.Napolitanio and A.Petit was two of the riders who had to taste the ground. This made it even more caotic. Just to make it clear, they did get the same time as the rest, because they were inside the 3 km mark. And noone got badly injured. Thats good.

And the result you may ask? Well, K.Skjerping managed to keep the distance to the finish, taking his first victory this year. S.Collbrelli was just 30 meters behind, and the bunch another 50 meters behind.
P.Voss surprisingly took 3rd, and S.Holst Enger took the 4th place. Modolo ended in 5th. Im disapointet that S.Collbrelli didn't manage to catch K.Skjerping back. But i have to say that if we get beaten, im happy it was a norwegian which did it.





Stage 2



Todays course was also flat, taking the riders from Kongsberg to Skien over 166 km. After many breakaway attemps, 5 riders got a gap.
E. Cammaerts, the danish riders M.Møller, M.Jacobsen and J.Sørensen, along with the norwegian hope F.Eidsheim.






Behind, Plussbank controlled, probably getting confidence after their 4th place yesterday. When the peleton arrived the final laps, the course went very technial. A bit too technical for some, splitting the field into 3 groups. Big compitors like D.Napolitano and A.Petit were left behind. So was Colbrelli.

The first group, which now contained 44 riders, had noone to chase with 20 km to go. But they still kept speeding up, knowing that dangerous riders were left behind.




As they were crossing the 10 km to go mark, the two groups behind was changed to one. Ancent Jobs- Wallone were pacing at front with strong names like S.Van Dijk, J.Drucker and D.Commeyne, trying to get D.Napolitano back. But it was clearly to late, they was over 1 minute behind. 3 km later they gave up. The victor was among the 44 riders in the front group.

As the finish line was closing, TSV lined up their train, riding for S.Vandousselaere. They were extremely strong, resulting in the whole group riding at one line.



Behind the TSV train, the lineup was as follows: S.Holst Enger, K.Skjerping, S.Modolo, S.Thwaites, N.Aistrup and S.Bystrøm. Not the most known names, and that was in Modolos advantage.

T.Asbrock opened the sprint with 400 meters to go. He got S.Vandousselaere in a perfect position, and he never looked back. He was totally superior to the rest, getting a 100 meter gap on the rest on the last 50 meters.
Modolo was obviously tired, he had more than enough keeping the race leaders wheel. He once again got the 5th place. Topsport Vlaanderen got the double, followed by S.Holst Enger on 3rd and K.Skjerping on 4th.

We were all disapointed after this stage. Our goal was the point jersey, at least one stage victory, and the overall win. None of these seemed to go our way at this point.



Stage 3



Another flat stage. This time a 190 km long stage from Tønsberg to Drammen. Two classified mountain sprints as well, the first day with fights for the climber jersey.
A breakaway got away early as usual. This time 3 riders were testing their luck. M.Møller from Blue Water Cycling, T.Jacobsen from Østerhus-Ridley, and to everyones surprise M.Olsen from Team Joker Merida.
Joker Merida had K.Skjerping clothed with the yellow leader jersey. They were probably realizing they weren't strong enough to controle a 2.1 race. Who took responsebility now?

It was Cofidis, the most known team in this years Glava Tour of Norway. Maybee they finally would get a result with their frenchman A.Petit.
T.Jacobsen got the first KOM. He was best known for his decent sprint, and had never shown such an hill capabilty before. With 30 km from the line, the breakaway got caught. A bit to early for those trying to get a mass sprint.
At the last KOM, many riders attacked. We expected them to slow down after the top, but they surprised us. Some riders just kept on pacing. When the field realized the danger, two riders had gotten a decent gap. 30 seconds to be presise. These two riders were N.Aistrup and V.Breen.
At the same time, two team mates had crashed. A.Petit and J.Ghyselinch from Cofidis crashed with each other, taking a couple of unknown riders with them. The whole team was sent back, panicing as especially J.Ghyselinck was the one fighting for the overall. Isn't life ironic. First they were chasing the breakaway, hoping for a bunch sprint for A.Petit. Then, all of a sudden, they were chasing the main field, hoping not to loose time. I almost felt sad for them. Almost.

Back in the front, Accent Jobs tried their best to reel in the duo. 4 riders were sent to the front, and D.Napolitano was on their wheel. Modolo tried to fight for Napolitanos wheel again. He wasn't strong enough. R.Downing, with all his routine, was already there. Modolo had to find another wheel. On the other side of the road, Crelan came at an extremely fast speed. Modolo jumped from right to left side of the road.
A smart choice. I don't know whats happening with D.Napolitano, maybee he got a lack of interest for this race, but he just gave up all of a sudden.

The sprint was on. Technical and 3% downhill, it was very dangerous. But this time Modolo had decided to win. And he did!





A superb victory! That eased his burden.
After the stage, we got confirmed that Modolo was the new race leader. And the new point jersey leader. And the... well it stops there.



Stage 4



This was the day Battaglin had waited for all week. 5 hills in a row would make this stage the hardest so far. Our plan was to get rid of Battaglins 2nd-place-curse on this stage. The stage went from Brumunddal to Lillehammer, passing Eddy the Boss' home place.



Because Modolo was leading the race, we had to controle from the very start. But it didn't matter, tha plan was to controle this stage anyway.
A group of 7 riders was todays breakaway. The riders were K.Klostergaard, the former Saxo-Bank rider, along with M.Reihs,G.Joeaar,T.Riis, D.Aldegheri, L.Aasvold and D.Jarstø.

None of them were a threat because they all was over 5 minutes behind in the GC. We let them get a solid gap before the hills, because we didn't want to burn our riders too early. The bigger gap the breakaway had before the hilly terrain, the faster the peleton hade to chase in it. The harder the better for Battaglin.

In the bottom of the first hill, with 80 km left, the 7 guys in front had a 9 minute lead. Passing the two first tops, with three to go, the main group still was 60 riders strong. It was a bit more difficult to controle the breakaway than we thought. They still had a 6'30 lead with 50 km left. We had to turn the speed up even more.

In the third hill, we reeled in another minute, and reducing the group by another 15 riders. In the downhill, the unthinkable happened.
Battaglin crashed!





That changed a lot. I ordered all my guys to wait. And after 20 though kilometers, they were up in the group again. But it costed a lot.
And the breakaway had now a big gap, 3'30 actually, with 20 km to go. It seemed very difficult to catch them back.

We tried out best, but with 5 km left, the break still got over 2 minutes.
We understood that we didn't manage to get a stage victory. But is was still a big fight for the GC. D.Commeyene, J.Ghyselinch, L.Konig and V.Breen tried to get a gap with 5 km to go, but Pirazzi, who was leading the field, managed to catch up with them.

Let we seperate the final kilometers into two parts. The fight for the stage victory, and the fight for the overall lead.




With 2 km left, D.Aldegheri was caught back by the other 6 riders. At the same time, T.Riis (BWC), had to find his own speed.
They were now 6 guys left in front, before the final hill in Lillehammer.

K.Klostergaard (VPC) tried to attack, but was immediately followed by L.Aasvold. When K.Klostergaard sat down, L.Aasvold went contra. The only one who could follow, was M.Reihs (GLU). With 200 meter left, they stopped looking at each other, knowing they had a 10 second lead to the rest. 50 meters later, L.Aasvold opened the sprint. M.Reihs was glued on his wheel, and with 50 meters left, he tried to pass him.



But it was to late. The norwegian from Team Plussbank could put his hands in the air, knowing he just had won the queen stage of Glava Tour of Norway!
M.Reihs ended 2nd, and D.Aldegheri ended 3rd.

Now back to the fight for the overall lead. With 2 km left, we had no helpers left. Battaglin then attacked. He got a solid gap along with P.Voss, S.Vandousselaere, V.Breen, D.Commeyne, J.Ghyselinck and S.Holst Enger.
They cooperated good until they saw the 1km to go mark. Then S.Holst Enger attacked.



He managed to hold the rest behind him all the way. But Battaglin and two other riders were so close at the end they got the same time.



Some of the riders in the group didn't follow thought, and they passed the line about 20 seconds later. They also got company by L.Konig and K.Skjerping

To summarise the day, it didn't go as we expected. But because of Battaglins crash, we have to say were quite satisfied with the result anyway.



Stage 5



Glave Tours last stage was an 178 km long stage from Gjøvik to Hønefoss. With 7 riders within 31 seconds in the GC, this could be a decisive stage.
S.Vandousselaere and his Topsport Vlaanderen had to do most of the work from the start, controlling the morning breakaway and such.
P.Voss (TNE) and S.Holst Enger (TPB) were both just 6 seconds behind, and that could potential mean that bonus seconds could be decisive too.
E.Battaglin was on 4th overall, 10 seconds behind. Everyone knew that he would try to attack, so we needed to time it perfectly.
Team Joker Merida had both K.Skjerping on 5th, 21 seconds behind, and V.Breen on 7th, 31 seconds behind. Between them, L.Konig (TNE), on the same time as V.Breen.

Todays morning breakaway was of the special kind. 6 riders in the group, and only two nationalities. The four danish riders were M.Sehested, M.Cort, M.Høberg and M.Jacobsen, companied by the two nowegians F.Eidsheim and M.Olsen.
As the peleton arrived the finall laps, the group in front had just over 2 minutes. We had decided to reel them in before the first intermediate sprint, and give Battaglin the opportunity to catch up with 3 seconds.
But it was impossible, we gave it a try, but they were surprisingly strong in front. We knew there was another sprint just 15 km from the finishing line, so therefore we still hold a steady speed.

With one lap to go, there was just 2 guys left in front, with a 20 second lead. 25 km to the finishing line, and 10 km to the intermediate sprint.
It had costed a lot thought. The only riders we had left in the peleton, was Pirazzi and Bongiorno. And Battaglin of course. With just one kilometer to the intermediate sprint, Pirazzi kept the pace really high. He was riding at the left side of the road. Battaglin tried to surprise the others, going on the right side with 500 m left. It worked.

He got the 3 seconds, S.Vandousselaere got 2, and S.Holst Enger got 1. Now the final hill waited. Everyone were nervous i think. Everyone knew Battaglin was going to explode up there.
And it did. E.Battaglin attacked, and he got a 20 second gap over the hill. Very interesting that the 4 guys who managed to follow him, was S.Holst Enger, V.Breen, K.Skjerping and S.Bystrøm, all norwegians. It was almost to good to be true.
But on the downhill, TSV rode fantastic for their race leader. And they were all together again at the bottom. 8 km flat to the line. A group of 22 riders.

There was only one rider left for S.Vandousselaere now. He seemed to be extremely tired. And only a km after he got reeled in, Battaglin tried again. And what an attack! Noone had a chance to follow.
Battaglin rode like a hero. Behind they attacked from both sides of the road, but everyone followed each other, and it stoped up. That was repeated several times, and there was no organized chase.
Therefore, Battaglin rode solo to the line. His 2nd-place curse was finally over! Now he got both the stage win, and the overall win!



Behind it ended in a mass sprint, were D.Commeyene got 2nd, and S.Holst Enger got 3rd. In the GC, Battaglin won in front of S.Vandousselaere, S.Holst Enger, P.Voss and K.Skjerping.

To summarise, we managed to complete two of three goals. We got the overall win and a stage victory. 2 stage victories actually. But the points jersey was given to S.Holst Enger.

A great day for us, and i have to say it was a great day for norwegian cycling as well!







Tor Lange
Sports director in Bardiani Valvone - CSF Inox