Pieter Weening took his first win for his new Roompot team by riding to a magnificent solo victory in the Tour of Norway queen stage. Having attacked two kilometres from the top of the final climb, he quickly opened a 40-second advantage on a 9-rider chase group and even pushed it out to 45 seconds on the descent and flat run-in to the finish. Sondre Holst Enger and Odd Christian Eiking (Norway) were first in the sprint for second while Weening moved into the race lead.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Broken chain can’t stop Weening in Tour of Norway queen stage

Pieter Weening gave Roompot - Orange Peloton the second victory of the season. Weening also took the yellow jersey and the lead in the mountains classification. "This was a stage in which I wanted to try something," he said afterwards. "It was good that that I had success.”

 

Weening chose to attack near the top of the final climb. 

 

"We were a small group with many lone riders. The legs felt good and I immediately had a gap. It was around four kilometers from the top and there was a lot of wind. But for me that's not a disadvantage,” he said about his 9th pro win.

 

He had an advantage of 30 seconds at the top. Despite attempts from Edvald Boasson Hagen and others to close the gap in the last fifteen kilometers, Weening increased it to 50 seconds. 

 

"That's a nice lead, of course, that I, with the help of my teammates, definitely want to defend in the coming days.

 

”I thought they were going to catch me again. I think my chain was a little broken, so I was afraid to raise from the saddle. But it went well in the end.

 

“It was windy on the way down and no one would work to close the gap. I had some luck, but also good legs.

 

”There was a lot of wind on the final climb and there were many who just looked at each other. I just thought I'd give it a go in a few kilometers to see what I could do. There was no response to the attack so then I only needed to do the descent.”

 

Maurits Lammertink (11th) and Huub Duijn (16th) also achieved a good result for Roompot.

 

Earlier this season Jesper Asselman took the first win for the team in the Ronde van Drenthe.

 

Sondre Holst Enger surprises himself with second place in Norwegian queen stage

 ”We could have worked better together. But what is done is done. I was pretty cooked, and there was a game of cat and mouse in the end. Everyone wanted to save strength for the sprint, so that is probably why it was so,” Sondre Holst Enger told TV2.

 

“I am very happy, because I had not expected to climb so well. Or maybe I had because recently I have only been eating pizza and cakes.

 

“Eiking and I should try today, and I tried to ride a bit for him on the climbs. But then I realized that I could survive. I had not expected that to be possible.

 

“I tried to cooperate with Eiking and help him in the wind. So I was able to hang on myself. I did not quite know what to do after the top.

 

”I had not expected to be there at the top. So I'm happy.”

 

Odd Christian Eiking: We underestimated Weening

”We could certainly have worked better together. There was not much cooperation, but it was not easy to go to the front in a strong headwind with stiff legs, Odd-Christian Eiking told TV2.

 

“I wanted us to cooperate, but everyone in the group was only on THE wheels. I am disappointed that victory slipped away but we couldn’t have done it much differently. Maybe we underestimated Weening’s attack but he was strong. He deserved to win.

 

“When we got to the top, we started to play a game of poker. It was probably because of the wind. It is not easy to move to the front when there is a strong headwind.

 

”I wanted to collaborate. But not when half the group is on the wheels. In any case, we had Sondre for the sprint. But it would not have been so much faster if I had sacrificed myself. It was slightly uphill and a strong headwind. I would have cracked immediately.”

 

Teammate Kristoffer Skjerping added.

 

”Edvald is so much better than us, so the collaboration was bad. We have to work together to beat him But today Weening was so much better an deserved to win.

 

Young Dutchman impresses in Norwegian queen stage

Wanty had Marco Minnard in sixth place.

 

"This was a beautiful stage for climbers. The team helped me a lot and put me in a good position before the last climb,” he said. “I could follow the best riders on this climb. Weening was too strong. Afterwards our group didn't work well together. We still had a small gap on another group. I'm quite happy with my result and the confidence of the team."

 

Jose Mendes back in form in Norwegian queen stage

Like yesterday, BORA – ARGON 18 was keen to save energy during the day. Therefore, the team decided to try to get into the break and not to work in the peloton. It took more than one hour until a group got clear and once again Cesare Benedetti was in the right place. The group of 5 riders than built up a gap of more than 5 minutes, but when the race favourites started to position themselves for the last climb, the gap came down fast.

 

The break was caught and the peloton was back together for the climb. Several teams then tried to make a decisive move and due to this high pace a leading group of 10 was formed. Within this group was José Mendes from BORA – ARGON 18 who already showed improved condition in the Giro del Trentino. He crossed the line in 7th place which also means a good position to go for the GC in the next stages.

 

“I thought the group today had a chance to make it to the finish because also the WorldTour teams Lotto-Soudal and LottoNL where part of it. But the gap came down very fast before the last climb. The team then did a great job by supporting José at the beginning of this climb. This was a little frantic point of the race today after everything was back together again. José made a strong impression and finished with the best. I am happy with that, but I also think that tomorrow's stage suits him even more and there is a good chance that he climbs up the GC even further,” said Christian Pömer, sports director.

 

Edvald Boasson Hagen admits defeat: It will be hard to beat Weening

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka were riding to support and deliver Edvald Boasson Hagen to the climb in a good position and the African Team did so efficiently.

 

Natnael Berhane did some particularly good work, being Boasson Hagen’s last man on the climb. Attacks started to fly on the climb and Berhane set a good tempo to keep most of them at bay. When a number of key riders decided to make a move near the top of the climb, Boasson Hagen followed.

 

It was a select group that went over the top of the climb, Boasson Hagen included. Everybodyl looked to the Norwegian champion to chase down Weening despite the African Team having done all the work from well before the climb already. Boasson Hagen accelerated hard as the race flew downhill with the rest of the chasers sitting in his wheel.

 

The gap was just 25 seconds with 10km to go but the 8 other riders in the chase group were still not willing to assist with the chase. Eventually, Boasson Hagen had to sit up and the gap ballooned to nearly a minute with 3km to go. The chasers seemed to have no interest in racing for the win and so Weening took the stage and overall race lead. Boasson Hagen crossed the line 9th as the chase group sparked to life in the sprint for the minor placings. Boasson Hagen now sits 4th on GC, 53 seconds down on Weening.

 

Sports director Oli Cookson said:
 

“It was a very long and hard stage that went up into the heartland of Norway. It was a really hard start as they averaged over 50km/h for the first hour of racing and the break only formed after the first intermediate sprint, which Edvald won.

 

”The break went with a few strong riders and One Pro kept the gap around 4 and a half minutes. After the feedzone we sent a guy to help pace along with Caja-Rural and the gap started to come down. From 160km to 180km the plan was to really protect Edvald on the false flat as we knew the course from the year before.

 

”On the big climb the first 3km was really hard and this is when the main split happened. It was also open and windy which made it that much harder. The race was completely split there and Natnael was pulling really well.

 

”In the end there was a small group at the top and Weening jumped away from around 9 riders. There wasn’t much organisation in the chase and the strongest man went on to win.

 

”The team rode well, they looked after Eddy really well, had a good plan at the start to get the sprint and then helped with the chase before positioning Eddy for the climb. So the guys did a good race.”

 

“I had the belief that it was possible to catch Weening but the group would not cooperate. If we had done that, we'd have done it. But not everybody wanted to work together and so we failed, Boasson Hagen told TV2.

 

”I don’t want to name anyone. It was just a general lack of cooperation. Everybody should have done better. Then we would have made it.

 

”At the same time I did not have the legs to go solo either, so that was not an option. I was not good enough. It was too tough.

 

”It will be tough to get that time back in the GC and it's a tough finale tomorrow. Weening showed strength today and he will be hard to beat. I'll do my best to be in the best possible position in the GC but today I had no legs to follow him.

 

“I knew he was dangerous but I just had to stay focused on hanging onto the group until the top. I did not have the legs when he attacked. When Eiking attacked, I was also just happy to sit on the wheels.

 

“I believed we would catch him but the group would not cooperate. We could probably have gained more in the cross wind. But it was generally a bit limited cooperation in the group. When nothing happened, it was difficult.

 

Paul Martens builds form in the Tour of Norway

Steven Lammertink showed himself during the second stage of the Tour of Norway. The young rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo made the breakaway after 65 kilometres today, but wasn’t able to stay in front of the peloton. Pieter Weening (Roompot - Oranje Peloton) soloed to the stage victory.

 

“It went fast during the first part of the stage,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “The pace was very high. Steven Lammertink was strong to be in that breakaway. He was unlucky because the race leader’s team immediately started to control the race. When the final part of the race came in sight and the other teams started to help the chase, we already knew that they weren’t going to make it.”

 

The stage exploded on the final climb of the day afterwards.

 

“Paul Martens gave it all to survive that climb,” Zeeman continued. “He almost succeeded. He was just a little bit too short to stay with the first chasing group. He finished 13th and showed that his form is improving.”

 

On Friday, the third stage of the Tour of Norway finishes uphill.

 

“That ascent is not as tough as today’s, but it isn’t easy either,” Zeeman added. “Paul Martens will have a chance, but we want to attack another time, as well. The chance that the break is going to make it until the end is bigger than it was today.”

 

Linus Gerdemann shows signs of form in Norwegian queen stage

At the end of the tough second, and queen, stage of the Tour of Norway, Linus Gerdemann was Team Stölting Service Group’s first rider home in 18th position in the second group on the road. The stage exploded on the main climb of Flisetjønnsskaret, cresting with under 20km to race, and Gerdemann came over the top in the chase group racing for 11th place, 1:08 minutes  down on the stage winner.

 

Team Stölting Service Group was not represented in the break and so they set about riding well positioned and getting ready for the 11km climb that would likely decide the stage.

 

With the first group finishing 46” behind there wasn’t much between them and that of Gerdemann who climbs the GC as a result. All the other riders finished in the third group on the road at 3:18 minutes apart from Mads Pedersen who finished in a small group at just over eight minutes. Gerdemann now sits in 17th on GC, in the same time as 11th and just 26 seconds off the podium places.

 

After the stage, Linus Gerdemann told us: “It was a long day in the saddle and on the final climb I missed out on making the front group by just 250m. I tried but couldn’t close the gap after this. I hope that my legs keep improving this week and we will keep pushing for results.”

 

 

Steele von Hoff retains points jersey in Norway

With the first sprint coming after 38km of racing and some vital Green Jersey points on offer, Steele Von Hoff wearing his first European Yellow Jersey was attentive as the approached the sprint placing 2nd and adding 2 more points to his tally. This would be enough to see him back on the podium at the conclusion of the stage wearing the Green Jersey into Stage 3.

 

With 56km of racing complete, a break of 5 riders finally escaped off the front of the peloton and worked well together gaining a maximum advantage of 5 minutes. Holding the Yellow Jersey, ONE Pro Cycling took control at the head of the peloton with Sebastian Lander and Matt Goss holding the break at the five minute point over the next 80km. Chipping the leaders advantage down to to 3 minutes 20 seconds, Goss and Lander were eventually assisted by several teams but the first being Dimension Data.

 

As the race headed into the back part of the stage, all focus was on Richard Handley. The team began to work on positioning Handley in the best possible place before hitting the final climb of the day, a brutally long 11km mountain ascent.

 

Entering the climb, a lot of riders were dropped almost immediately as the race kicked off at the front. Handley held his position well in the peloton during the lower slopes and picked off plenty of riders. Over the top of the climb Handley found himself chasing in the third group and fighting to get back on terms.

 

Richard Handley crossed the line in 31st position in the third main group on the road 3 minutes back on the new Yellow Jersey wearing Peter Weening (Roompot)

 

Having accumulated additional points throughout the brutal Queen Stage, Steele Von Hoff retains the Green Jersey going into Stage 3.