The first stage of the Tour of Norway begins in Sandefjord and concludes with a likely sprint finish in Tønsberg. The 189.0km stage leads off an exciting 5-stage race with GC ambitions for time trialists and punchers alike.
Almost straight from the gun, we see the first attacker, Lecourt De Billot. This attack is sadly unsuccessful, with Le Gac and Bystrom countering. Le Gac is brought back, but Bystrom stays out front.
Bystrom is joined by Culey with 180km to go and the peloton starts to slow their pace. Some counter attacks from the peloton still, as the gap leads up to 1 minute. None gain traction necessary to close the gap or escape the peloton.
At the intermediate sprint 35km into the race, Culey passes 1km to go in front of Bystrom and begins their sprint, with Bystrom staying in the wheels, until about 500m to go where Bystrom completely drops off (screenshot). Culey wins the first intermediate sprint. Behind, Le Gac has tried to attack again, over 1’20 behind the breakaway but has gained a 47” second lead over the peloton. Le Gac takes third while Bernas jumps away from the peloton to take a meaningless 4th, but continues on the attack.
With 145km to go, the 4 breakaway riders have finally grouped up and have approximately 2 minutes. They are:
Bystrom (Trans Looney Tunes)
Culey (Amayism)
Bernas (Strava)
Le Gac (Oktal Pharma-TotalTV)
Meanwhile, six teams control the pack - HelloFresh-Lampre, Voyagin-Bird, Zara-Irizar, Carlsberg-Danske Bank, crabbe-CC Chevigny, and Xero Racing. They control without any issue and allow the gap to rise steadily, edging over 4’30” at its max.
As they enter the Myrskogen climb for the first KOM points, the breakaway leads by 4’13”. The gap slightly descends to 3’55” as they reach the top. No contest as the riders file over the KOM points, with Bystrom taking the 5 points, ahead of Le Gac and Bernas.
With 100km to go, the gap continues to drop, establishing itself solidly at 3’20”. HelloFresh-Lamore, Crabbe-CC Cehvigny and Voyagin-Bird remain at the front, having lost support from the others helping earlier in the stage. The race continues at status quo to the 70km to go mark. The peloton stays calm and lowers the gap as they reach the 50km to go marker, with the breakaway now only 2’12” in front of the main group.
The breakaway approaches the sprint point, well in front of the peloton, so there are no surprises here. Everyone sprints, as they turn toward the sprint banner with 600m to go. Culey was too strong, taking the victory again. This time Le Gac takes 2nd and Bernas 3rd. The chase intensifies here though as HelloFresh-Lampre has their entire team in the first 20 men of the peloton and three on the front. They clearly favor Kennaugh today and want to bring this back. 39KM to go.
The final KOM points of the day are at the 4th category Langrudmyra, cresting with 32km to go. No attacks at all from the group, as they allow Le Gac to crest the top ahead of Bystrom and Bernas. The peloton looms large behind, less than a kilometer back and only 1’33” from the leaders. The breakaway will struggle to hold off, but anything can happen with the bumpiness of the lead-up to the finish.
20KM to go and the gap is exactly 1 minute. Everyone in the breakaway is still working hard but the sprinters are lining up already. Kennaugh is the best positioned, with Liu and Reinhardt right on his wheels. No surprises here given who has been working on the front of the peloton all day. They’re followed by Jakobsen, Coutinho, Cosnefroy, Afewerki, Bouhanni, Minali and Kennett - all lined up. Jakobsen is the only one outside the top 3 with any help in Cosnefroy.
With 16.4 to go, Bernas realizes he needs to attack for any chance to make it to the finish line. He gains a small gap over his breakaway compatriots, while Chernetskiy leads the peloton for Crabbe-CC Chevigny. All back together again with 13KM to go, but the gap has stayed at 42”. Voyagin-Bird returns to front to try to nail back the breakaway.
Split by the 10KM kite, the breakaway are finally in the same helicopter shot as the main field. The gap is descending rapidly now and is at 30”. Voyagin-Bird has a full 6 man leadout train lined up already, sitting behind Reinhardt and Kennaugh. Enger has also shown himself for the first time near the front of the peloton, in great position, but without a leadout.
6.5KM to go and the catch has not been made. Culey continues to push hard at the front of the group, with only a 20” gap. Voyagin continues to press hard at the front now, but the catch has not been made. Liu also starts to drop back into the group as competing trains start to move up on the outside. 5KM to go and the gap is at 15”, but still not made. Sprinters are starting to lick their lips though as the win is within their grasps if they can navigate the chaos of the catch.
2.7KM and the catch is made. Crabbe-CC Chevigny leads at the front for their man Reinhardt. On his wheel is Bouhanni, followed by Coutinho, Lander, and Enger. Parallel to Bouhanni is the leadout train of Voyagin-Bird, with Liu in 3rd wheel, equal with Lander. Pre-race favorite Kennaugh. has dropped into approximately 40th with a challenging route through the pack to have any attempt at the stage.
Voyagin-Bird begins their full leadout at 2.0km to go, Houle grabbing Liu’s wheel.
As they go under the kite, Voyagin-Bird takes a commanding lead, but a number of sprinters are right in their wheels. In order, Zhoa leads out Liu for Voyagin, followed by Houle, Kump, Kennett, Riabushenko, Selig, Kalaba and Minali. Alongside Houle is Tsatevich leading out Reinhardt. Reinhardt, with Bouhanni on the wheel. Coutinho has dropped the wheel a bit, but has Lander, and Enger right behind, all looking to contest.
700m to go and Liu launches, with Houle trying to overtake. 500m to go and Liu and Houle are side by side. It is 5 or 6 across in the fight for the podium. A small gap has been created, with Kennaugh sprinting to connect. Unlikely gaps, but fear must be overtaking a few riders if the gap widens more.
300m left and Kump is gaining ground on Liu and Houle, as it looks like Houle has the lead. Bouhanni is trying to surprise from the opposite side, while Reinhardt is trying to make a final challenge. Kennett, leads the group in the middle, where a number of riders could make a spring from out of the slipstream.
Kennett and Bouhanni are incredible close for the win with what would be completely undistinguishable from a head-on view, with Coutinho making a huge late run. Kump still making the run up the lefthand side at the line while Houle, and Liu falter in the final 300m. From up above, it’s still almost too close to call between Kennett and Bouhanni, but Kennett appears to have the edge.
It is! Kennett takes a huge win for Binance while Bouhanni is devastated in 2nd, missing out by centimeters. Coutinho does secure 3rd place, with Selig and Kalaba rounding out the top 5! What a fantastic late run from all five, overtaking the top sprint trains in the final 500m.
With the win, Kennett takes the overall lead as well as the lead in the points jersey, which will be worn by Bouhanni in stage 2, a tiny consolation after missing the win by centimeters. Le Gac and Bystrom share the lead in the KOM battle with 8 points a piece, but Le Gac will wear the mountain jersey moving forward.
Tour of Norway – Stage 1
