The opening day at Tour of Norway saw the peloton faced with a day out in the rolling hills before a finale that would lend its hand to a puncheur. Setting out with the plan of getting someone in the break as there can always be doubts about who chases on the opening stage, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL did well to have Timo Roosen represent them in the move. Unfortunately, Roosen had to drop back at one point and he ultimately stopped the race due to stomach complaints. In the peloton, the squad rallied around each other and looked to position Martijn Tusveld for the punchy finale. Tusveld dug in for as long as he could when the blistering pace was set but he had to ultimately let go of the wheels, rolling home alongside Sean Flynn and Romain Combaud.
Speaking after the stage Flynn said: “The first goal for today was to get someone in the break as we believed there was a good chance of a result from there today. Timo did a good job of representing us there. Ultimately, the race was very controlled and we rode well together in the bunch to try and put Martijn into a good position going into the final climb, which we did quite well. In the end it came down to legs which we didn’t quite have today but we look forward to the opportunities to come in the next few days.”
