Tour of Norway 2022 Alexander Kristoff wins final sprint stage

Tour of Norway
24-29th May | 2022
6th stage | 150 km
last stage Stavanger

Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché) is the strongest in the sprint and beats Ethan Vernon and Mads Pedersen after an impressive sprint in the race in Stavanger.
It was a hard fight to get in the break today and with the wind in the back, the speed was high the first hour. Several attacks from, among others, Team Coop, but a group of seven riders eventually managed to establish a group in front. These were Ben Healy (EF Education - Easypost), Corbin Strong (Israel - Premier Tech), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Fenix), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Rhobbe Ghys (Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Joshua Gudnitz ( Team Coloquick) and Louis Bendixen (Team Coop). A group that after 20 miles had built up a distance of over two minutes to the main field.
Joel Beltran decided the climbing competition on today's first categorized climb to Undheim and was able to lower his shoulders for the rest of the stage. This did not apply to the rest of the break and the field behind, with a strong wind that was to affect the speed of the riders all the way to Stavanger.
At the long surfaces on Jæren it boiled over in the field and many riders went to the ground, including Mads Pedersen and Mike Teunissen. A bad time to get into trouble, as INEOS set high speed to wear out the competitors.
The break was at times a distance of five minutes to the main field, but this was shrunk to just one minute in the front group entered the last round in Stavanger. A calm tempe was set at the first climb up Grisabakken and the distance went up again to 2 minutes at the top. The pace should turn out to be significantly higher on the next climb and at the top the distance was again down for one minute when it was called for the last lap.
The teams worked hard to position themselves in the best position as they approached Grisabakken for the last time. The climb turned out not to be decisive, but Vermeersch, Corbin Strong and Timo Roosen from the field surprised the main field in the descent and got a good hatch as they approached the run. It should not hold for the break and there was an overall question on the pier in Stavanger. Alexander Kristoff was the strongest in the sprint and could cheer for victory at home. Ethan Vernon and Mads Pederson came in second and third place respectively.