The last stage at the Tour of Norway saw the peloton take on the now traditional circuit around Stavanger, which includes the short but steep Grisabakken climb, where an explosive finale was expected.
Keeping their powder dry, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL remained in the bunch as the day’s break formed out front but as the kilometres ticked by the pace increased and the gap for those ahead dropped. Riding strongly as a unit, the team were always well positioned going onto the ascent and Sean Flynn covered multiple attacks from the bunch on the laps in the closing 50 kilometres, always ensuring the team were represented. In the end, the attackers were caught and it came to a last lap showdown. A strong trio managed to break clear on the climb but a committed chase in the bunch saw them brought back in the final three kilometres. After some good positioning work by the team, Pavel Bittner was in around fifth place as they entered the twisting and turning final kilometre. Coming out of the wheels Bittner launched a strong sprint, ending up with a nice fourth place on the stage.
Bittner expressed: “It was a really fun day today. From the start it was super fast but the team did a really good job again. We were smart and from the beginning on the first lap we always took a side. Romain, Tim and everybody did a really good job coming into the difficult part of the circuit with the climb. Coming into the last two laps we started to race hard and Sean covered a few of the attacks. Over the last climb I still had Martijn around me who put me into position for the last two and a half kilometres. I tried my best for the sprint but didn’t really have the speed to come around Kristoff in a good way. In the end it was a good day and happy to finish off the job with fourth.”
