Marco Haller Snatches Tour Des Fjords GC Win

01 June 2015 10:05

Marco Haller of Katusha has won the Tour Des Fjords race in Norway.

The fifth and final stage was 178kms long and started in Hinna Park in Stavanger and included two laps of Pig Hill, a 400 metres climb with ramps up to 25% before the finish in Vågen.

Søren Kragh Andersen of the Trefor Blue Water team had taken over the lead of the race with a fourth stage victory and led out the peloton which was all together as they approached the first sprint of the day after 11.2kms.

Kragh Andersen had to settle for second on the sprint as Marco Haller took the three points with one for three stage winner Alexander Kristoff of Katusha.

Onto the Seldalsbakken climb and Cameron Meier of Orica GreenEdge and Oomen of the Rabo Development Team had got past Van Poppel and opened up a thirteen second lead before being brought back.

van Empel took the points on the climb ahead of Ametx Txurruka the KOM leader followed by Meier and Impey.

Jacobs and Mol took over in front and were joined by Quaade, van Empel and Fløtten with a lead of 1.15.

Quaade took the second sprint as the front group extended their lead to 4.37 and the peloton re-grouped at Hellestø.

With 75kms to go, the gap had gone out to 6.57 but thirty kilometres later and with two laps of Stavanger to negotiate, the gap stood at 3.21.

The leaders took the bell lap with a lead of 1.16 but with ten kilometres to go, it was down to thirty eight seconds Onto Pig Hill and the break was caught. Edvald Boasson-Hagen of MTN Qhubeka, Impey, Bystrøm and Marco Haller seized their chance with race leader Søren Kragh Andersen hemmed in the peloton.

They took a fifteen second and that was enough for Edvald Boasson-Hagen to win the stage and his first in two years with a win in 4.04.18 ahead of Impey and Marco Haller of Katusha.

Søren Kragh Andersen finished 15th, some fifteen seconds later and that was enough to give Marco Haller the overall victory with a twelve second margin.

Alexander Kristoff took the points jersey with Amets Txurrka the KOM competition and Haller take the young riders competition.

Source: DSG