Pedersen wins stage 3 in Tour of Norway
The young danish rider Mads Pedersen (Stölting) took Stölting’s first win of the 2016 season on the tough third stage of the Tour of Norway. Having joined a three-break after a fast start, he was initially dropped by Lluis Mas (Caja Rural) on the short, steep climb to the finish but he made it back in time to win the two-rider uphill sprint. Pieter Weening (Roompot) finished fourth and retained the lead.
In the peloton, Sondre Holst Enger (Norway) tried to accelerate, reducing the group to 10 riders before Pieter Weening (Roompot – Oranje Peloton) launched an attack. Only Enger could match his pace and the Norwegian managed to come around in the final metres to take third and four important bonus seconds while the rest of the splintered group rolled in bits by bits.
Weening crossed the line in third and even though he lost a total of six seconds to Enger, he still leads the race with a 45-second advantage over the Norwegian. He faces another tough and punchy stage tomorrow. It’s an almost completely flat course that has a nasty sting in its tail on the 11.8km finishing circuit that will be covered thrice. It is mostly flat but includes a 1.6km climb that averages 5.4% and summits just 2.7km from the finish. From the top, it is a flat and exposed run to the line.
Tour of Norway 2016 – stage 3 (Rjukan – Geilo):
| 1 | Mads Pedersen (Stölting) |
4:24:40 |
| 2 | Lluis Mas (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) |
+03” |
| 3 | Sondre Holst Enger (Norway) |
+34” |
| 4 | Pieter Weening (Roompot – Oranje Peloton) |
+36” |
| 5 | Sander Armee (Lotto Soudal) |
+37” |
| 6 | Odd Christian Eiking (Norway) |
+38” |
| 7 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) |
,, |
| 8 | Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) |
,, |
| 9 | José Mendes (Bora-Argon 18) |
,, |
| 10 | Marco Minnaard (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) |
+42” |
General classification after stage 3:
| 1 | Pieter Weening (Roompot – Oranje Peloton) | 14:01:37 |
| 2 | Sondre Holst Enger (Norway) |
+45” |
| 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) |
+53” |
| 4 | Odd Christian Eiking (Norway) |
+55” |
| 5 | Sander Armée (Lotto Soudal) |
+57” |
| 6 | Jose Mendes (Bora – Argon 18) |
+59” |
| 7 | Marco Minnaard (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) |
+1’02” |
| 8 | Andreas Vangstad (Sparebanken Sør)Eliot Lietaer (Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise) |
+1’10” |
| 9 | Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) |
,, |
| 10 | Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) |
+1’21” |
