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2024 Arctic Race of Norway (HC), Norway

11th edition: August 4 - 7, 2024

Arctic Race of Norway podium history | Start list | 2023 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4

Map of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway

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Wednesday, August 7: 4th & Final Stage, Glomfjord (Meløy) - Bodø, 157.1 kilometers

Stage 4 map & profile

Magnus Cort beats Clément Champoussin for the stage win.

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Rated Ascents:

• Km 50.1: Skauvoll Summit, 2.9 km @ 4.6%. Cat. 3
• Km 81.4: Ertenvåg Summit, 3.4 km @ 5.3%. Cat. 2
• Km 98.4: Tuv Summit, 1,2 km @ 5.1%. Cat. 3
• Km 157.1: Bodø, 1.1 km @ 9.2%. Cat. 2

Weather at the finish city of Bodø at 1:50 PM, loal time: 26C (77F), sunny, with the wind from the southeast at 16 km/hr (10 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the organizer's stage four summary.

Uno-X Mobility topped off an extraordinary week in the Arctic Race of Norway by winning the last stage and securing the overall win through his Danish rider Magnus Cort, who raised his arms in victory to bring home the midnight sun jersey that he had already claimed on the eve, atop Jakobsbakken. The last outing in the world’s northernmost road cycling event was no walk in the park, though, as the Norwegian team had to pull with all its cyclists into the uphill finish in Bodø in order to bring back a strong breakaway led by Lotto-dstny, which was hoping to overhaul the overall classification with Jonas Gregaard Wilsly.

Their brave effort, though, was frustrated by the ever-dominating Uno-X and its scorer Magnus Cort, who landed the team’s third stage win in this edition of the Arctic Race of Norway after Alexander Kristoff netted the first two earlier in the week. Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ Clément Champoussin and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL’s Kevin Vermaerke stood alongside Cort on the overall podium, while his teammate Andreas Leknessund finished as the best Norwegian rider and TDT-Unibet’s Jelle Johannink collected the the peacock jersey as the winner of the Mountains classification.

The race:
104 riders took the start in the fourth stage of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway, held between Glomfjord (in the municipality of Meløy) and Bodø over 157,1 kilometers, at 16:40. Magnus Cort (Uno-X) started the day as the overall leader, yet his midnight sun jersey was at stake with an uphill finish in schedule and no less than 22 riders within shooting distance of the Dane’s position as there were 19 bonus seconds up for grabs spread between three intermediate sprints and the finish line.

A huge crash shook the peloton 4 kilometers into the race and forced Eivind Broholt Fougner (Coop-Repsol) and Antonio Soto (Equipo Kern Pharma) to withdraw. The day’s breakaway got established at km 15, as Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (TDT-Unibet) and Jonas Wilsly (Lotto-dstny) went clear and were joined by Logan Currie (Lotto-dstny), Arthur Kluckers (Tudor), Alessandro Perracchione (Novo Nordisk) and Karsten Larsen Feldmann (Coop-Repsol). The six men at the front enjoyed a 1’25” advantage on the bunch driven by Uno-X at Dalen (IS, km 21,5), where Wilsly was first across to collect three bonus seconds that brought him closer to Cort in the GC after starting the day in 37th position, 48” in arrears.

Several teams cooperate with Uno-X
The gap grew up to 3’40” when Wilsly led the breakaway through Skauvoll (Cat 3, km 50,1). His teammate Currie paced the six-strong front group at Ertenvåg (Cat 2, km 81,4), where their advantage peaked at 3’45”. The landscape at the head of the bunch changed slightly up the climb to Tuv (Cat 3, km 98,4) as Jayco-AlUla put Lawson Craddock to take turns along with Uno-X’s Rasmus Tiller and Markus Hoelgaard, bringing the margin of break down to 3’25” as Currie was again first at the summit. Later on, Flanders-Baloise, Israel-Premier Tech, Astana Qazaqstan and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL also contributed to the chase too.

The final GC podium, from left: Clément Champoussin (2nd), Magnus Cort (1st), & Kevin Vermaerke (3rd). Photo: ARN/Aurélien Vialatte

Wilsly agonizingly close to pulling off an amazing victory
The escapees reached the final circuit in Bodo (km 129) with a sizable margin of 2’20” over the peloton. The three laps around the 9,8-kilometer course made for an exciting chase, with Uno-X at helm trying to reel in a breakaway where Wilsly claimed maximum bonus seconds in both the intermediate sprints at km 137,5 and km 147,1. The gap was down to 1’05” at the latter, with just 10 kilometers to go, enabling the men at the front to reach the final, 1,2-kilometer long climb with a slight gap. Wilsly tried to make the most of it, but he was caught for good with 200 meters to go as Cort sprinted for the win to thwart his courageous bid.

Complete results:

157.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 47.363 km/hr

1	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	3hr 19min 1sec
2	Clément Champoussin	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
3	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	@ 2sec
4	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
5	Mauro Schmid	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
6	Kevin Vermaerke	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
7	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:08
8	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
9	Floris De Tier	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
10	Cristian Scaroni	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
11	Lander Loockx	TDT-Unibet	s.t.
12	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	0:11
13	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
14	Anders Foldager	Jayco-AlUla	0:14
15	Lars Craps	Team Flanders-Baloise	0:16
16	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	0:17
17	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
18	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
19	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
20	Axel Mariault	Cofidis	s.t.
21	Ben Hermans	Cofidis	0:23
22	Domenico Pozzovivo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:25
23	Jonas Gregaard	Lotto Dstny	0:27
24	Nick Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
25	Davide De Pretto	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
26	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:34
27	Anton Stensby	Team Coop-Repsol	0:36
28	Andreas Stokbro Nielsen	TDT-Unibet	0:40
29	Karsten Feldmann	Team Coop-Repsol	0:46
30	Logan Currie	Lotto Dstny	0:47
31	Alexander Kamp	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
32	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	0:49
33	Davide Gabburo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:53
34	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:54
35	Bjoern Koerdt	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:03
36	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
37	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:04
38	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	1:05
39	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	1:14
40	Embret Svestad-Bårdseng	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
41	Vincenzo Albanese	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	1:23
42	Luca Colnaghi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	1:26
43	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
44	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	1:40
45	Johan Meens	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
46	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:42
47	Alex Jaime	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
48	Jesus David Peña	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
49	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
50	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
51	Alessandro Perracchione	Team Novo Nordisk	1:54
52	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:02
53	Tobias Ludvigsson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
54	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	2:04
55	Andrea Peron	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
56	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	2:10
57	Emilien Jeannière	TotalEnergies	s.t.
58	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	2:23
59	Owen Geleijn	TDT-Unibet	2:31
60	Pascal Eenkhoorn	Lotto Dstny	2:34
61	Aimé De Gendt	Cofidis	2:36
62	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	2:50
63	Storm Ingebrigtsen	Team Coop-Repsol	3:27
64	Declan Trezise	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
65	Max Kanter	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
66	Nadav Raisberg	Israel-Premier Tech	3:29
67	Simon Pellaud	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
68	Dries van Gestel	TotalEnergies	s.t.
69	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
70	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
71	Kevin Inkelaar	TDT-Unibet	3:38
72	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:51
73	Tobias Lund Andresen	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	4:00
74	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	4:05
75	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	4:08
76	Haimar Etxeberria	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:22
77	Jenthe Biermans	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	4:26
78	Elias Maris	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
79	Rüdiger Selig	Astana Qazaqstan	4:50
80	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
81	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
82	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
83	Amund Grøndahl Jansen	Jayco-AlUla	4:56
84	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-WB	5:02
85	Halvor Utengen Sandstad	Team Coop-Repsol	6:09
86	Jelle Johannink	TDT-Unibet	8:57
87	Jacopo Guarnieri	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
88	Lawson Craddock	Jayco-AlUla	10:34
89	Mees Vlot	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
90	Oliver Knight	Cofidis	10:37
91	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
92	Alex Edmondson	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
93	Marcel Camprubí	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
94	Toon Clynhens	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
95	Kalle Kvam	Team Coop-Repsol	s.t.
96	Yevgeniy Gidich	Astana Qazaqstan	10:42
97	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	10:46
98	Martin Tjøtta	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	11:10
99	Chris Froome	Israel-Premier Tech	11:28
100	Sasha Weemaes	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
101	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	15:11

 

Final GC after stage 4:

• GC winner: Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility)
• Mountains classification winner: Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet)
• Points classification winner: Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility)
• Best young rider: Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL)
• Teams classification winner: Jayco AlUla

646.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.092 km/hr

1	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	14hr 59min 45sec
2	Clément Champoussin	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	@ 17sec
3	Kevin Vermaerke	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	0:19
4	Mauro Schmid	Jayco-AlUla	0:20
5	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:21
6	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	0:22
7	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:30
8	Lander Loockx	TDT-Unibet	0:31
9	Floris De Tier	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
10	Joe Blackmore	Israel-Premier Tech	0:34
11	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
12	Cristian Scaroni	Astana Qazaqstan	0:36
13	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
14	Lars Craps	Team Flanders-Baloise	0:39
15	Anders Foldager	Jayco-AlUla	0:42
16	Axel Mariault	Cofidis	0:45
17	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
18	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:49
19	Nick Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	0:50
20	Ben Hermans	Cofidis	0:51
21	Domenico Pozzovivo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:53
22	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:06
23	Davide De Pretto	Jayco-AlUla	1:14
24	Jonas Gregaard	Lotto Dstny	1:16
25	Alessio Martinelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	1:22
26	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:25
27	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:27
28	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	1:35
29	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	1:45
30	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	1:46
31	Embret Svestad-Bårdseng	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	1:51
32	Logan Currie	Lotto Dstny	1:59
33	Jesus David Peña	Jayco-AlUla	2:10
34	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	2:21
35	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	2:24
36	Alexander Kamp	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:31
37	Vincenzo Albanese	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	2:32
38	Walter Calzoni	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	2:35
39	Andreas Stokbro Nielsen	TDT-Unibet	2:40
40	Davide Gabburo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	2:56
41	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	4:04
42	Johan Meens	Bingoal-WB	4:29
43	Emilien Jeannière	TotalEnergies	4:59
44	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	5:02
45	Elias Maris	Team Flanders-Baloise	5:17
46	Aimé De Gendt	Cofidis	5:25
47	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	5:30
48	Karsten Feldmann	Team Coop-Repsol	5:54
49	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	5:58
50	Max Kanter	Astana Qazaqstan	6:16
51	Nadav Raisberg	Israel-Premier Tech	6:18
52	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	7:12
53	Amund Grøndahl Jansen	Jayco-AlUla	7:45
54	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	7:52
55	Luca Colnaghi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	7:58
56	Pascal Eenkhoorn	Lotto Dstny	8:49
57	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	8:51
58	Tobias Ludvigsson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	8:59
59	Kevin Inkelaar	TDT-Unibet	9:59
60	Antonio Polga	Team Novo Nordisk	10:13
61	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	10:56
62	Anton Stensby	Team Coop-Repsol	10:57
63	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	11:16
64	Andrea Peron	Team Novo Nordisk	11:23
65	Bjoern Koerdt	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	11:37
66	Matyas Kopecky	Team Novo Nordisk	12:06
67	Dries van Gestel	TotalEnergies	12:11
68	Alex Jaime	Equipo Kern Pharma	13:17
69	Tobias Lund Andresen	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	13:51
70	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	13:58
71	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-WB	14:10
72	Filippo Ridolfo	Team Novo Nordisk	14:25
73	Simon Pellaud	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	14:50
74	Toon Clynhens	Team Flanders-Baloise	14:52
75	Storm Ingebrigtsen	Team Coop-Repsol	14:53
76	Marcel Camprubí	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	15:09
77	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	15:18
78	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	15:32
79	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	16:26
80	Alessandro Perracchione	Team Novo Nordisk	16:38
81	Haimar Etxeberria	Equipo Kern Pharma	16:43
82	Jenthe Biermans	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	16:47
83	Halvor Utengen Sandstad	Team Coop-Repsol	18:30
84	Declan Trezise	Astana Qazaqstan	18:50
85	Owen Geleijn	TDT-Unibet	19:23
86	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	19:58
87	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	20:21
88	Rüdiger Selig	Astana Qazaqstan	22:01
89	Chris Froome	Israel-Premier Tech	24:12
90	Lawson Craddock	Jayco-AlUla	24:18
91	Martin Tjøtta	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	25:23
92	Nathan Smith	Team Novo Nordisk	31:05
93	Alex Edmondson	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	31:29
94	Jelle Johannink	TDT-Unibet	32:42
95	Oliver Knight	Cofidis	34:56
96	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	35:35
97	Mees Vlot	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	35:44
98	Sasha Weemaes	Bingoal-WB	37:08
99	Jacopo Guarnieri	Lotto Dstny	37:17
100	Yevgeniy Gidich	Astana Qazaqstan	37:52
101	Kalle Kvam	Team Coop-Repsol	44:01

 

Stage 4 map & profile:

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

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Tuesday, August 6: Stage 3, Tverlandet - Solitjelma (Jakobsbakken), 155.7 km

Stage 3 map & profile

Kamiel Bonneu wins stage three. Photo: Billy Lebelge/ARN

Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Rated ascents:

• Km 25.1: Kvikstadheia Summit, 2 km @ 7%. Cat. 2
• Km 50.8: Misvaer Summit, 2.6 km @ 4.8%. Cat. 3
• Km 68.7: Ljøsenhammeren Summit, 8.6 km @ 3.5%. Cat. 2
• Km 155.7: Jakobsbakken Summit, 7.2 km @ 6.5%. Cat. 1

Weather at the city of Solitjelma, on the route, 10 km from the finish, at 2:00 PM, local time: 22C (71F), sunny, with the wind from the southeast at 21 km/hr (13 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) & Filippo Colombo (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) did not start.

Here's the race organizer's stage three summary.

He lost one grandfather three months ago, and the other one just yesterday as he was in Bodø to take part in this Arctic Race of Norway. As he couldn’t go back home to mourn the loss, Kamiel Bonneu (Flanders-Baloise) decided to live through the duel by racing to the best of his abilities on a stage set to be deciding for the general classification with a mountaintop finish atop Jakobsbakken. His performance on this last climb was exciting as it was emotional, as he dropped Davide de Pretto (Jayco-AlUla) with 500 meters to go to raise his arms in victory hoping that both his grandfathers will feel proud of him wherever they are. Uno-X’s Magnus Cort was second across the finish line to take the midnight sun jersey as an overall leader of the race from his teammate Alexander Kristoff. Cort holds a 1” lead on Bonneu and 7” on Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) ahead of the fourth and final stage, which finishes with an uphill kick in Bodø.

The stage three start line.

The race:
104 riders took the start in the third stage of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway, held over 155,7 kilometres between Tverlandet and the Jakobsbakken climb in the outskirts of Sulitjelma, at 14:18. There were two DNSs: Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Filippo Colombo (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). The mountaintop finish was deemed to be decisive in the outcome of the overall classification, and was preceded by some lumpy terrain with three categorized climbs on the way towards the final one. Seven cyclists took off at kilometer 5: Kiko Galván (Equipo Kern Pharma), Gilles de Wilde (Flanders-Baloise), KOM leader Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet), Louis Blouwe (Bingoal WB), Filippo Ridolfo (Novo Nordisk), Anton Stensby and Kalle Petter Kvam (Team Coop-Repsol). Galván, though, would ease up 18 kilometers into the stage and drop back to the peloton driven by Uno-X’s Rasmus Tiller and Markus Hoelgaard.

Jelle Johannink nets the peacock jersey
Already wearing the peacock jersey, Johannink was first across Kvikstadheia (Cat 2, km 25,1), Misvaer (Cat 3, km 50,8) and Ljøsenhammeren (Cat 2, km 68,7) to secure himself another day at the top of the Mountains classification. Blouwe was the fastest at Enge (IS, km 43) as Kvam was at Rognan (IS, km 85), where the time gap between the front group and the main one was clocked at 1’45” after peaking at 2’50” at kilometer 54.

De Pretto and Bonneu were the strongest up the final climb
Johannink took a bow in the breakaway with 25 kilometers to go, at which point the peloton was 1’15” behind the five riders who remained in the lead. Blouwe was first across Sulitjelma (IS, km 145,4), where the escapees only kept a 20” advantage that was shut down by the bunch with 6,5 kilometers to go, already in the first ramps of the climb to Jakobsbakken (Cat 1, km 155,7). Shortly after, with 5,5 km left to race, Davide de Pretto (Jayco-AlUla) attacked and was quickly joined by Kamiel Bonneu (Flanders-Baloise). The duo built a 20” gap that proved sufficient despite the efforts from Uno-X, Israel-Premier Tech or Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. With 500 meters to go, on the final double-digit gradients of the day, Bonneu took off to score the win while De Pretto was overtaken by a reduced group led by Magnus Cort (Uno-X) over the finish line.

Complete results:

155.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.282 km/hr

GC after stage 3:

• GC leader: Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility)
• Mountains classification leader: Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet)
• Points classification: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)
• Best young rider: Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet)
• Teams classification leader: Israel-Premier Tech

489.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.869 km/hr

Stage 3 map & profile

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

Monday, August 5: Stage 2, Beiarn - Fauske, 178.1 km

Stage 2 map & profile

Alexander Kristoff wins stage two.

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2020: The Tour During Covid-19, Better Late Than Never is available in both Kindle eBook and Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Rated ascents:

• Km 15.6: Beiarfjellet Summit, 9.1 km @ 6.2%. Cat. 1
• Km 57.3: Kvikstadheia Summit, 3.1 km @ 7.4%. Cat. 2
• Km 144.3: Seljeasnes Summit, 1.5 km @ 6%. Cat 3
• Km 153.8: Rødas Summit, 1.3 km @ 6.4%. Cat 3

Weather at the finish city of Fauske at 2:00 PM, local time: 26C (79F), sunny, with the wind from the south-southeast at 11 km/hr (7 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the organizer's stage 2 report:

The Norwegian team Uno-X mobility echoed its excellent performance in the opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway with yet another amazing display in the second one, controlling the unfolding of the events all day long to set the scenario for another mass sprint on which its fastest rider, Alexander Kristoff, raised again his arms in victory. The local legend scored his seventh-ever stage win in this race and secured himself a second outing in the midnight sun jersey. The landscape will change on Tuesday, as the third stage between Tverlandet and Sulitjelma is set to finish atop Jakobsbakken, a seven-kilometer climb on which light riders will come to the fore.

The stage begins.

108 riders took the start in the second stage of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway, held between Beiarn and Fauske over 178,1 kilometers, at 13:45. On top of the much anticipated 6,3-kilometer long gravel sector in Holtan (km 158,5), the riders were challenged pretty early in the stage with the climb to Beiarfjellet (Cat 1, km 15,6), the highest-ever summit in the history of the world’s northernmost road cycling race at 608 meters. Peacock jersey holder Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet), took off as the flag dropped, along with Simon Pellaud (Tudor), Eivind Broholt Fougner and Storm Ingebritsen (Coop-Repsol), to crest the first climb with a 5’00” advantage on the peloton. Johannink led the front group across the summit to further strengthen his position as leader of the Mountains classification. Ingebritsen drove the break through Enge (IS, km 39,3), where they held a 4’05” margin on a bunch where Uno-X was at the helm on behalf of overall leader Alexander Kristoff.

Simon Pellaud’s one-man show
After completing the Kvikstadheia (Cat 2, km 57,3) climb, first created by Johannink with the peloton 3’30” in arrears of the breakaway, the race entered a phase on which the gap gradually decreased down to the 2’05” timed at Fauske (IS, km 125,1), where Pellaud was first across. The climb to Seljeåsnes (Cat 3, km 144,3) saw Pellaud take off to claim maximum points, with only Ingebritsen managing to bridge back to the Swiss rider as the peloton rode across the summit 1’10” in arrears, driven by Equipo Kern Pharma. On the climb to Rødås (Cat 3, km 153,8), Pellaud accelerated for good to crest solo with 50” on the bunch and 10” on Ingebritsen, who was swept in shortly after.

‘Grey roads’ ahead of a textbook sprint
A dozen riders went down at the back of the bunch just ahead the gravel sector in Holtan (km 158,5), with white jersey Milan Fretin (Cofidis) crashing out of the race. Pellaud hit the ‘grey roads’ holding a 40”-gap that came down to 20” out of the gravel, only to be reeled back in by a frantic peloton with 8 kilometers to go. Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) led the bunch across Fauske (IS, km 169,7), with first Arkéa-B&B Hotels and later Uno-X taking over at its head. Into the final kilometer, the Norwegian team would pull off a near-textbook leadout for its star sprinter Kristoff to net a second straight stage win over Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech) and fellow Uno-X rider Magnus Cort.

Complete results:

178.1 kilometers raced at an average seed of 43.504 km/hr

GC after stage 2:

• GC leader: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)
• Mountains classification leader: Jelle Johannink (TDT Unibet)
• Points classification leader: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)
• Best young rider: Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)
• Teams classification leader: Uno-X Mobility

333.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.668 km/hr

Stage 2 map & profile:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Sunday, August 4: Stage 1,  Bodø - Rognan, 155.3 km

Stage 1 map & profile

Alexander Kristoff gives the stage a Norwegian winner for this Norwegian race. Photo: Billy Lebelge.

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Weather at the finish city of Rognan at 1:50 PM, loccal time: 24C (76F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the southeast at 18 km/hr (11 mph). There is a 1% chance of rain, growing to 7% at 4:00.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage one summary.

Uno-X’s Alexander Kristoff took the win by storm in the first stage of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway between Bodø and Rognan, the latter being the same city on which he already netted the maiden stage of the 2016 edition of the northernost professional road cycling event. The Norwegian legend put the icing on the cake to an excellent performance by his whole team, which led the bunch from start to finish to control and catch the five-strong breakaway that enabled Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet) to take the Peacock jersey as leader of the Mountains classifications.

Kristoff finished off the amazing work of his fellow Uno-X riders with a powerful sprint to score his sixth stage win in the Arctic Race of Norway and become the first overall leader of this year’s edition ahead of the second stage between Beiarn and Fauske, to be raced on Monday over a 178,1-kilometre course that includes four categorised climbs spread over the journey and a gravel sector just inside the final 20 kilometres.

108 riders took the start in the first stage of the 2024 Arctic Race of Norway, held between Bodø and Rognan over 155,3 kilometres, at 14:21. The course was mostly flat on its first half, yet turned lumpy on its second one with no less than three categorized climbs ahead of a gentle descent to the finish. It was 5 kilometers into the race that Mikel Retegi (Equipo Kern Pharma), Jelle Johannink (TDT-Unibet), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-dstny), Nathan Smith (Team Novo Nordisk) and Kalle Petter Kvam (Coop-Repsol) went clear from the bunch. Eenkhoorn led the five-strong breakaway thru Øyjorda (IS, km 20,1), where the front group enjoyed a 1’20” advantage on a peloton led by Uno-X with Rasmus Tiller and Jonas Abrahamsen undertook the lion’s share of the work.

The peloton being led by Rasmus Tiller about 60 km into the stage. A break is 2 minutes up the road.

A relatively short-lived breakaway
The biggest gap between the break and the peloton was 2’20”, clocked at kilometer 49. At the summit of the climb to Kvikstadheia (Cat 2, km 93,5), where Johannink was first across, the advantage of the five riders at the front had decreased down to 2’00”. Their lead came down to nothing at Enge (IS, km 111,5), with Eenkhoorn still leading the race. Shortly after, Kvam took off on his own. At the bottom of the climb to Misvær (Cat 3, km 119,3), his teammate Eivind Broholt Fougner attacked to overtake him and be first across the summit with 10” on Johannink and 15” on Retegi, who led the peloton there. Both Fougner and Johannink were brought back by the main group on time for the Kåsmo (IS, km 126,3) intermediate sprint, where Magnus Cort (Uno-X) took the best off Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL).

Alexander Kristoff wins stage one.

Uno-X pulls it off
The third and last categorized climb of the day to Ljøsenhammeren (Cat 2, km 137,2) saw many attacks take place, with TotalEnergies’s Thomas Bonnet starring the main one. He was caught a few hundred meters shy from the summit, first reached by Johannink to confirm his hard-earned lead in the KOM standings. Uno-X drove the peloton all the way to the end of the stage, where its sprinter Alexander Kristoff was the fastest in the final straight defeating Cofidis’ Milan Frentin and Israel-Premier Tech’s Tom Van Asbroeck.

Alexander Kristoff will start stage two in yellow.

Complete results:

155.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.685 km/hr

GC after stage 1:

• GC leader: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)
• Mountains classification leader: Jelle Johannink (TBT-Unibet)
• Points classification leader: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)
• Best young rider: Milan Fretin (Cofidis)
• Teams classification leader: Uno-X Mobility

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Start list with back numbers, Aug 3, 2024: