RILEY PICKRELL SPRINTS TO THIRD ON OPENING STAGE OF ARCTIC RACE OF NORWAY

The opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway was destined to be one for the sprinters. Letting the small breakaway gain a sizeable advantage early on, there was little to report in the bunch until the final 8km local lap, when the catch was made, and the sprint teams moved into position.

Riley Pickrell: “It was a really easy day, all day. Once the first attack went and the peloton got up to speed, apart from a couple of rollers, there was nothing too significant to report. But because it was so easy, the finale turned into a big fight, since everyone was so fresh. We got a bit mixed up with around 4km to go, but we found an opening and Ezra (Caudell) bought us up beautifully. It was still a little early to push on, so I let Mark (Stewart) go to try and find us a place. Brody (McDonald) then came through to shelter me, and we found another line through, so I opened up to cross the line in third.”