Boasson Hagen narrows gap on GC with stage 4 win at Fjords

SANDNES, Norway — Dimension Data’s strategy went perfectly as planned on Saturday’s penultimate stage at the 2017 Tour des Fjords.

On the second of two circuit climbs heading into the stage 4 finish in Sandnes, Norway, Serge Pauwels (BEL) attacked, forcing stage 1 winner and overall race leader Dries Van Gestel’s Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise squad to counter.

Then, while Denmark’s Torkil Veyhe (ColoQuick-Cult) held a narrowing lead after the majority of the 162-kilometre race from Stavanger after Belgian break-mates  Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Gijs Van Hoecke (LottoNL-Jumbo) dropped off in the closing kilometres, stage 3 winner Edvald Boasson Hagen joined fellow Norwegian August Jensen (Team Coop) on an assault over the last climb aimed Veyhe.

“The team was riding really well today controlling the breakaway, so we had control all day,” explained current points leader Boasson Hagen, who is no longer feeling the aches and pains of a final stage crash en route to winning his third Tour of Norway last week. “Towards the end, Serge attacked on the second to last climb and that was the plan from the start to make pressure on [Sport Vlaanderen] to have to ride, and I could also launch my attack on the final climb.”

The reigning national road race and time trial champion caught Veyhe in the closing hundred metres to take the stage win and climb ever closer toward Van Gestel’s yellow jersey.

“It was really to close it down, luckily I managed to do it,” the 30-year-old Boasson Hagen told Eurosport. “I saw he was slowing down because he was out there a long time.”

For Veyhe, it was another close call for the 27-year-old ColoQuick-Cult rider who has animated the race all week.

“My type of riding is aggressive and I like to go in the breakaway,” Veyhe told Eurosport after the race. “I’m not so strong in the sprint, so when I do good races it’s often because I’ve been in a breakaway. We had a plan for me to go in the breaks this week and it went quite well today.”

When asked if he could feel Boasson Hagen and Jensen barrelling down on him, he said he most certainly could.

“I first saw the two guys coming from behind when I came down from the hill to the flat where it was 2.5km to go,” he explained. “I could see the gap was still OK and I hoped I could make it, but when Edvald caught up with me at 300m to go I knew it would be tough.”

The Tour des Fjords ends Sunday with the traditional stage from Hinna Park to Stavanger (163 km). It’s a stage Boasson Hagen won in 2015. The race for yellow will be decided on the infamous Sørmarksbakken, which the riders have to climb three times before crowning a winner on the Stavanger harbourfront. Currently Van Gestel leads Boasson Hagen by five seconds with stage 2 winner Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo) still 24 seconds back in third.

“I did my best to finish in the first group and not lose time on Edvald, but he is a strong rider and he took valuable time with the win and during the intermediate sprints he took three extra seconds,” Van Gestel told Eurosport. “I just did my best and try not to lose time, but if he takes seconds that’s his strength and I can’t do anything about it — but we will do our best to limit our losses and defend the jersey to the end.”

For full race results click here.