Corbin Strong appeared to be the strongest rider of the breakaway that got caught in the last moments of the final of the ultimate stage of the Tour of Norway. The Australian had thoughts that the breakaway could make it to the finish.
The cyclist from New Zealand and his breakaway mates saw their advantage over the peloton changing all the time, but with twenty kilometers to go, they had over two minutes. “That’s when I thought we might have a chance.”
It was only until two kilometers remained that Strong, who did not seem to get too much help from the other escapees in the final, was caught. He said, “If we would have had ten or twenty seconds more, we might have made it to the line.”
He didn’t have the energy left to sprint for a result. Also, Tom van Asbroeck, who finished on the podium on the same stage earlier in his career, was not there to sprint. He fell victim to two very unfortunate crashes in a short period of time. Carl Fredrik Hagen came across the line in the peloton.
“I had fun,” Strong continued. “It was nice to be in the breakaway today and it was interesting to battle till the end of the stage.”
Hagen rounded the Tour of Norway with a top-10 in the general classification. He was also satisfied after the ultimate stage. “It was nice to race in my home country and I am happy with my top-10.”
