Racing came to the home city of Alexander Kristoff on Saturday’s stage 4 of the Tour des Fjords and while the Norwegian sprinter did not try to win the stage, he managed to hold on to the leader’s jersey and hopes to continue to do so.

- My team did a good job to protect me. I ended up a little bit isolated, but there were two guys up in front and I knew they were not close to me in the GC, so I could be a little bit more relaxed and let them fight for the win. The guys closest to me on GC were still with me, so in the end it was better to give up the stage and save some energy. Tomorrow is the last stage and it is still in my city so I hope I can win there, but most important is to win the jersey. That is the main target, - said race leader Alexander Kristoff.

The 165,6 km stage from Kristoff’s Stavanger to Sandnes was won by Asbjørn Kragh Andersen of Delko Marseille Provence KTM as he sprinted in just ahead of second place Bjørn Tore Hoem (Team Joker – Byggtorget). Kristoff sprinted in for fourth place behind Christian Mager of Stölting Service Group at 3-seconds off the winning time of 4:00.14. 

Alexander Kristoff’s smart racing kept him in the lead with no changes at the top of the leader board. After almost 18 hours of racing, Kristoff holds 20-seconds to BMC’s Michael Schär and Nick van der Lijke of Roompot-Oranje Peloton. Kristoff still holds the blue jersey of the point classification.

Stage 5 on Sunday is the final day of racing in the 2016 Tour des Fjords and gives Alexander Kristoff another chance to win in his home city. The last stage is from Hinna Park to Stavanger at 183,8 km.