Kevin Vermaerke has rounded out a strong showing for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL at the Arctic Race of Norway with sixth place on the final stage, securing his third place overall and taking the white jersey for the Best Young Rider classification in the process.
A strong break of six riders punctuated the stage and put up a very strong fight as the wind made for a fast and frantic stage towards its closing stages. The leaders still held a sizeable gap over the peloton as they arrived onto the finishing circuit ahead of a tough, short but steep uphill finish. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL weighed in on the chase behind and with four kilometres to go the gap was down to around 40 seconds. It wasn’t until the final few hundred metres that the final catch was made, as Vermaerke emerged amongst the leaders on the final slopes of the climb, taking a respectable sixth on the line. In doing so, he secured his third place on GC and moved up one spot in the Best Young Rider’s classification to win the white jersey.
Vermaerke said after the stage: “I think it was probably the hardest day of the race today with the wind. We thought it might be crosswinds but in the end it was mainly tailwind. There was a really strong break up the road which we were happy to let take the seconds, but they made it a little nervous in the last 40 kilometres when they still had three minutes. We put Gijs and Mees in the chase and the rest of the guys rallied around me and kept me in a good position. Coming into the final, the gap to the break came down and Tobi really stayed with me and put me in the top five wheels at the bottom of the last climb. From there it was a full gas sprint in the last kilometres. I didn’t quite have the result I’d hoped for today in me but we have to be happy with the podium on GC. We didn’t win a stage but we really made the most of our race.”