Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 8, 2021

Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 4 – Gratangen – Harstad : 163,5 km

After a year off the calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arctic Race of Norway returns on Thursday August 5 for four days of racing in the far north of the country. The eighth edition of the race, which heads into Finland for the first time, is run at 2.Pro level – a step below the WorldTour.

Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) secured overall victory at the Arctic Tour of Norway on Sunday, with Philipp Walsleben (Alpecin-Fenix) beating a resurgent Niki Terpstra (TotalEnergies) to win the final stage to Harstad above the Arctic circle.

Hermans won stage 3 to Målselv on Saturday, beating Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty) on the 3.7km uphill finish. His Israel Start-Up Nation team then controlled the early break on the final stage on the hilly Harstad finishing circuit but cleverly let them stay away to take away the important bonus seconds.

Eiking made a final attack on the climb to the line to finish two seconds ahead of Hermans but the veteran Belgian hung on to win overall by two seconds. Victor Lafay (Cofidis) finished third overall at six seconds after also impressing on Saturday.

Fredrik Dversnes (Team Coop) won the mountains competition and won the special prize of 500kg of Norwegian salmon.

Hermans was initially unsure of overall victory and lost out in 2016 on the final stage but could finally celebrate with his teammates on the podium this time.

“Sometimes you’re the nail and today I was the hammer,” Hermans said prophetically.

“It’s a nice one to add to the list. It’s one of the Pro Series races, it’s the only WorldTour win I still miss. I’m really happy with this win. I didn’t come here for anything less. I’m happy I could finish it off.”

Hermans only lost control of his destiny when Eiking made his powerful late attack.

“It was really under control until we hit the finishing laps. The first was still okay and it was all about positioning before the last climb. The team kept me in front and the guys did a perfect job controlling the race before, not pulling too hard and not closing the gap.

“We were lucky three guys from the break were still in front so I only had to match Lafay and Eiking in the final sprint. I got gapped by Eiking, I couldn’t match his explosive attack actually. Luck was on my side and the time gap was only two seconds and not four.”

“I still remember this disappointment of six years ago when I lost everything in the last stage but now finally we can celebrate a win.”

Hermans turned 35 in June and his current contract with Israel Start-Up Nation ends this year but he wants to keep racing.

“All my career I’ve been at the same level from my first year pro until now. If I’m 13 years on the same level I can continue. Of course I want to sign for two years and then we’ll see,” he said.

Walsleben collapsed on the grass after going deep to chase down Terpstra’s late charge and win the stage. He and Terpstra were in the nine-rider break of the day and fought to stay away on the hilly finishing circuit that covered three times.

Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Uno-X Pro Cycling), Aimé De Gendt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Ceriel Desal (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), Tore Andre Vabø (Team Coop), Alexandre Delettre and Eduard-Michael Grosu (Delko) were also in the move but were distanced as the Novkollen climb hurt on each circuit.

Terpstra tried to ride smart in the final kilometres and then attacked first with 200 metres to go but Walsleben was stronger on the climb and came around him to win. Due to injury and illness, Terpstra has not won a race since his 2018 Tour of Flanders victory.

33-year-old Walsleben announced his retirement a few days ago but admitted he may now reconsider his decision.

“It could be a very special victory because my plans were to stop pro cycling next year. I don’t know if I will reconsider it,” Walsleben said.

“It’s still a lot of work that goes into this victory and a lot of suffering, so I don’t know. Obviously, I’m still pretty good but I made a decision.”

Walsleben is known as a cyclo-cross rider but won a stage at the Boucles de la Mayenne stage race in France in May.

“I’m very satisfied – it was really hard. We made it a hard race today and when I’m in such a group I start thinking about the stage victory. In the end, it was a lot of suffering. I was a bit surprised I was the strongest but of course I’m happy,” Walsleben explained.

“It’s hard to deal with [Terpstra] because he’s very strong but he’s very heavy so normally I must be better uphill. But Terpstra is still Terpstra, so you never know.

“He didn’t want to pull in the last kilometres so that made it even harder. But I had the impression I was stronger in the uphill so I had to keep the pace high on the uphill and wait for him to go and I could make it a perfect sprint.”

Results :
1 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 03:41:40
2 Niki Terpstra (Ned) TotalEnergies
3 Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Delko
4 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
5 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:00:19
6 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
7 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
8 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
9 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
10 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
11 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
12 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
13 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Delko
14 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
15 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop
16 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
17 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
18 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Norwegian National Team
19 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
20 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
21 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
22 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies
23 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Norwegian National Team
24 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
25 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
26 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Team Coop
27 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech 00:00:28
28 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH
29 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
30 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash 00:00:33
31 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech 00:00:35
32 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:00:36
33 Henok Mulueberhan (Eri) Qhubeka NextHash 00:00:38
34 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
35 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB
36 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
37 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:00:41
38 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko 00:00:43
39 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 00:00:50
40 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:00:52
41 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
42 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:00:54
43 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:00:56
44 Andre Drege (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:00:59
45 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal WB
46 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:01:12
47 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 00:01:22
48 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:01:26
49 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:01:29
50 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:01:48
51 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:01:56
52 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko 00:02:24
53 Tore Andre Aase Vabø (Nor) Team Coop 00:02:35
54 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:03:10
55 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:03:21
56 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:03:37
57 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Team Coop 00:04:14
58 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
59 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
60 Ådne Holter (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:04:21
61 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:04:29
62 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 00:04:39
63 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
64 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
65 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
66 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:04:46
67 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
68 Tord Gudmestad (Nor) Team Coop
69 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
70 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
71 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
72 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
73 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal WB
74 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
75 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation
76 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
77 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:04:54
78 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:05:12
79 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:05:20
80 Rodrigo Alvarez (Spa) Burgos-BH
81 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Norwegian National Team
82 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
83 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
84 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
85 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
86 Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Burgos-BH
87 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 00:05:25
88 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Qhubeka NextHash
89 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis 00:05:26
90 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB 00:05:38
91 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:06:19
92 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Delko 00:07:19
93 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:07:37
94 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:07:48
95 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 00:08:20
96 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Team Coop
97 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
98 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:08:40
99 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 00:08:55
100 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
101 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
102 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:09:48
103 Peio Goikoetxea Goiogana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:10:52
DNF Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
DNS Dries Van Gestel (Bel) TotalEnergies
DNF Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

Final General Classification :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 15:04:02
2 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:00:02
3 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis 00:00:06
4 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 00:00:20
5 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 00:00:26
6 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Delko 00:00:29
7 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Norwegian National Team
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:00:32
9 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Team Coop 00:00:36
10 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:00:50
11 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech 00:01:01
12 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:01:03
13 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
14 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:01:04
15 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB 00:01:05
16 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 00:01:06
17 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix 00:01:09
18 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
19 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:01:21
20 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash
21 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:01:23
22 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis 00:01:27
23 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:01:36
24 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:01:44
25 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 00:01:46
26 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB 00:01:49
27 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:01:52
28 Henok Mulueberhan (Eri) Qhubeka NextHash 00:01:58
29 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:02:02
30 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:02:16
31 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech 00:02:24
32 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:02:26
33 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies 00:02:41
34 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko 00:02:47
35 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:02:48
36 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:03:08
37 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko 00:03:15
38 Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Delko 00:03:46
39 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:04:13
40 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:04:30
41 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 00:04:31
42 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:04:43
43 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal WB 00:05:22
44 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:05:24
45 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:05:47
46 Andre Drege (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:05:54
47 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 00:06:00
48 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:06:28
49 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:07:02
50 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:07:05
51 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 00:07:29
52 Tore Andre Aase Vabø (Nor) Team Coop
53 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:07:56
54 Niki Terpstra (Ned) TotalEnergies 00:08:16
55 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 00:08:26
56 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 00:09:13
57 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:09:15
58 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:09:23
59 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:09:25
60 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation 00:09:52
61 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Team Coop 00:10:12
62 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:10:42
63 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis 00:11:09
64 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 00:11:12
65 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:11:13
66 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 00:11:14
67 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:11:26
68 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 00:11:40
69 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:11:44
70 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis 00:11:49
71 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:12:01
72 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:12:07
73 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 00:12:08
74 Tord Gudmestad (Nor) Team Coop 00:12:09
75 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix 00:13:13
76 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:13:22
77 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB 00:13:41
78 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 00:13:42
79 Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:13:44
80 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:13:55
81 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:14:09
82 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:14:17
83 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Qhubeka NextHash 00:14:34
84 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:14:56
85 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:14:59
86 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:15:10
87 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:15:18
88 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Team Coop 00:16:23
89 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:16:30
90 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:16:34
91 Rodrigo Alvarez (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:16:58
92 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 00:16:59
93 Ådne Holter (Nor) Norwegian National Team 00:17:00
94 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:17:21
95 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:17:34
96 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 00:17:49
97 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Delko 00:18:15
98 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:19:33
99 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:19:36
100 Peio Goikoetxea Goiogana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:20:17
101 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 00:21:21
102 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:23:08
103 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal WB 00:26:15