New Zealand professional Corbin Strong produced an impressive final stage performance to claim the overall honours in the Artic Race of Norway today.
It was his second general classification victory in a UCI 2Pro stage victory in succession following on from the overall honours in the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium two weeks ago.
The Southland rider, in his fourth year on the WorldTour, went into the fourth and final 141km stage around Tromsø with a slender six second margin from British star, Tom Pidcock.
His Israel Premier Tech teammates protected the kiwi from any breaks, bringing the pack together for the final sprint, where Norway local Fredrik Dvershes (Uno-X Mobility) prevailed ahead of Strong, with Pidcock sixth in the bunch with nearly 30 riders.
Strong claimed the overall honours by 11 seconds from Pidcock and Italian Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), and earned the Young Rider and Points classification jerseys
"It was an incredibly stressful day. I knew we were going to be under attack from kilometre zero, but I've exceeded my expectations, especially the first few laps in the rain," the kiwi rider said.
"The first few laps were even more out of control and harder than I expected. But my team was just incredible today. So to finish it off with my teammates is a really nice feeling."
Other kiwis competing included fellow Southland rider Josh Burnett (Burgos Purpellet BH) in 38th 2:32 back and Dion Smith (Intermache – Wanty) 41st at 2:45 as he prepares for a likely start in the final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana in two weeks.
Fellow Andorra-based Aaron Gate finished 6:36 from Strong in 62nd place, helping XDS Astana to the top team classification.