Van Dijke sprints to sixth place in final stage of Tour of Norway
Tim van Dijke proved himself in the final stage of the Tour of Norway. The 23-year-old sprinted to sixth place. Attila Valter missed the podium by one second, finishing fourth.
On the final day in Norway, the riders faced a 151-kilometre stage. The peloton broke away from Stavanger's start and finish location, and nine riders quickly broke away. Their lead was quickly eroded by Team Jumbo-Visma.
With 45 kilometres to go, the peloton hit the steep Grisabakken climb for the first time, which had already caught the escapees. "We wanted to make the race hard there so that the real sprinters would have a hard time", sports director Maarten Wynants said. Mick van Dijke made a good move on the second pass of the Grisabakken, and for a moment, the peloton seemed to be breaking up. "We made the course difficult, but the groups eventually came back together. So the fast guys also rejoined. In the end, those riders beat Tim van Dijke in the sprint."
"It's nice to see that Tim took his chance in the sprint today"
Van Dijke eventually sprinted to sixth place. The day before, the rider also wanted to be in the sprint but got boxed in. "It's nice to see that Tim took his chance in the sprint today. For now, we have to be satisfied with sixth place. Two days before, Mick took his chance. We can also be happy with that", Wynants said.
Valter finished fourth overall, missing the podium by just one second. "This small difference is annoying. The goal for this week was to finish on the podium. Unfortunately, it did not work out, but that also has to do with the composition of this four-day event. On the first day, the prologue determined the general classification. The shortened stage a day later certainly didn't help us", the Team Jumbo-Visma sports director concluded.