Van Poppel beats Degenkolb in Tour of Norway stage 2
Danny van Poppel (Sky) continued his fine run of form by winning stage two of the Arctic Race in style.
After good work from Andy Fenn and Ben Swift in the closing stages, Van Poppel rounded John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) to launch a long sprint and pip the German to the line in Sandnessjoen, after expert positioning on the final rise inside the last kilometre.
Following his third place on day one the win moves Van Poppel into a two-second race lead and to the top of the points standings, while he also stays at the top of the young rider classification.
It caps a fantastic two weeks for the Dutchman, who won the opening two sprint stages of the Vuelta a Burgos, and he’s likely to be in the mix on the sprinter-friendly stage four in Norway.
“It was a hard sprint but I’m really happy with the victory,” said Van Poppel after the stage. “I’m really happy to beat a big rider like John Degenkolb. Normally I’m (finishing) behind them, but today I was first.”
Tour of Norway 2016 – stage 2 results (Mo I Rana – Sandnessjøen):
- Danny Van Poppel (Sky) 4:46:16
2. John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) ,,
3. Moreno Hofland (LottoNl-Jumbo) ,,
4. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) ,,
5. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) ,,
6. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) ,,
7. Andrea Guardini (Astana) ,,
8. Oscar Gatto (Tinkoff) ,,
9. Daniel Oss (BMC) ,,
10. August Jensen (Coop-Oster Hus) ,,
General classification after stage 2:
- Danny Van Poppel (Sky) 8:56:04
2. John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) +02″
3. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) +04″
4. Moreno Hofland (LottoNl-Jumbo) +10″
5. Daniel Oss (BMC) +14″
6. Oscar Gatto (Tinkoff) ,,
7. Danilo Napolitano (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) ,,
8. Steel Von Hoff (ONE) ,,
9. Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana) ,,
10. Gianni Moscon (Sky) ,,
