Late surge sees Laas take Stage 2 of Arctic Race of Norway

Martin Laas of Bora-Hansgrohe finished a touch ahead of Alexander Kristoff to take home Stage 2 honours in the Arctic Race of Norway.

Martin Laas (Bora-Hansgrohe) celebrates his stage victory at the Arctic Race of Norway Source: Getty Images

Kristoff was the favourite in Kilpisjarvi but saw his late push for the line bettered only by Laas, who produced a well-timed attack at the death.

A second successive second-placed finish was enough to hand Kristoff the leader’s jersey, and the Norwegian now leads Markus Hoelgaard (UNO-X Pro Cycling), Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels) and Kristian Aasvold (Team Coop) in the overall rankings.

Kristoff appeared to be benefitting from the stiff headwinds swirling throughout the 178-kilometre route and made his move during the final 150 metres.

Laas, however, anticipated the 34-year-old’s push; overcoming cramps to pip his opponent and claim a memorable victory over the border in Finland.

“It’s quite good and it’s close to my home (of Estonia),” Laas said. “Ok, from here it’s 1500 kilometres but Finland is a neighbouring country so it’s quite nice.

“It was really tough and there was also headwind and it was slightly downhill, so it was also a little bit of a tricky one.

“To be honest, with 5km to go I had cramps, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to sprint or not.

“But in the end the team worked really well, and Rudiger (Selig) brought me to 300 metres to go.

“I followed some wheels from there and then in the last 150 metres I launched my sprint.

“I saw from the left side that I was faster than Kristoff and I was quite sure I was going to pass him – but in the end it was a close one.”

Watch the third stage of the Arctic Race of Norway LIVE via SBS On Demand from 9:20pm (AEST) tonight.