Arctic Race of Norway 2018 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

August 16, 2018

Arctic Race of Norway 2018 – Stage 1 – Vadsø – Kirkenes : 190,5 km

The 2018 Arctic Race of Norway is a four-stage cycling stage race taking place in Norway between 16 and 19 August. It is the sixth edition of the Arctic Race of Norway and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour.

A hot favourite for stage 1 – and possibly for the overall classification as well – Mathieu Van der Poel met the expectations as he showed his class to win the uphill sprint at Kirkenes in stage 1 of the sixth Arctic Race of Norway ahead of Russia’s Sergei Chernetski and Belgium’s Benjamin De Clercq.

“It feels good to win this race,” Van der Poel said. “It was a pretty hard day. I was at the back in the beginning when a group went away. I didn’t expect it because the wind was blowing from behind, so I didn’t think such a big group would go. The pace was incredibly high all day. Even in the bunch, it was hard because of the wind. On the local lap at the end, it was just a question of staying at the front. The last curve was very important. But I was in a good position there.”

Following a very eventful start with many unsuccessful skirmishes, 26 riders took the command after 34km of racing: Damiano Caruso and Nicolas Roche (BMC), Tiago Machado and Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin), Sébastien Delfosse and Tom Wirtgen (WB Aqua Protect-Veranclassic), Bert De Backer and Johan Le Bon (Vital Concept), Herman Dahl and Carl Fredrik Hagen (Joker-Icopal), Jacques Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Daniil Fominhykh (Astana), Romain Cardis (Direct Energie), Christophe Laporte and Anders Skaarseth (Cofidis), Kevin Deltombe and Preben van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Marcel Meisen (Corendon-Circus), Warren Barguil, Romain Hardy and Sindre Lunke (Fortuneo-Samsic), Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Øyvind Lukkedal (Team Coop), Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille-Provence-KTM), Miguel Byron (Holowesko-Citadel) and Sindre Kulset (Uno-X).

Caruso and Barguil, two of the pre-race favourites made their intentions clear. The Frenchman who wants to make it up for a disappointing Tour de France went for the first KOM price at Gandvikklubben, km 88, and sprinted for the second intermediate sprint at km 106.5, coming second to Cardis while Roche settled for third. Barguil also took the second place at the second KOM at Buktfjelled (km 133), behind Lukkedal whereas Kulset has been dropped.

After exceeding two minutes, the time gap between the leading group and the peloton led by Israel Cycling Academy and Rally went under one minute for the first time with 50km to go. Eight riders refused to be reeled in at the difference of their companions 34km before the finish: Machado, De Backer, Dahl, Fominhykh, Skaarseth, Deltombe, Lunke and Kasperkiewicz. Skaarseth outsprinted Lunke and Deltombe at the summit of Tusenvikfjellet, km 156.

The Norwegian trainee from Cofidis also claimed the third intermediate sprint at Høybuktmoen airport and the fourth climbers’ prize to become the first King of the Mountains. Skaarseth and De Backer were the last two breakaway member to surrender after Bram Welten (Fortuneo-Samsic) crashed by himself in the middle of the bunch and last year’s runner-up August Jensen (Israel Cycling Academy) was hampered by a mechanical with 8km to go.

As Skaarseth and De Backer were about to get caught at bell lap, 6.5km from the end, Angelo Tulik (Direct Energie) and Markus Hoelgaard (Joker Icopal) took over at the front and forged on until they got reined in 300 metres before the line. That was the moment chosen by Mathieu Van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) to accelerate. “I knew they needed twenty seconds or so to stay ahead, the Dutchman commented. The final climb was very hard. When guys are sprinting, you need a lot more attention to get to the finish. I came here with the goal of a stage win for the team. That’s already done. We did a pretty great job today. We’ll see what the next days will bring. It’s too early to talk about GC ambition now.”

With the time gaps recorded on the finishing line and the time bonus he got, Van der Poel has 10 seconds lead over Martin, 23 seconds over Barguil, 35 seconds over Jakob Fuglsang, 40 seconds over Caruso, 57 seconds over Tanel Kangert and 1:15 over Jensen who were often mentioned as favourites for the GC. Traditionally, the Arctic Race of Norway is won by a mere few seconds on the very last day.

Results :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 3:50:19
2 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
3 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
4 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Joker Icopal
5 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept Club
6 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team
7 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
8 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
9 Krister Hagen (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:05
10 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
11 Erwann Corbel (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:00:07
12 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:10
13 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
14 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:13
15 Yannick Martinez (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:15
16 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
17 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
18 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
19 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:00:20
20 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:25
21 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
22 Kenny Molly (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
23 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
24 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker Icopal
26 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
27 Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
28 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
29 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
30 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
31 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:30
32 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
33 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy
34 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
35 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
36 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
37 Øyvind Lukkedal (Nor) Team Coop
38 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
39 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
40 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
41 Clement Russo (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
42 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:37
43 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
44 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
45 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:00:47
46 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
47 Louis Bendixen (Den) Team Coop 0:00:54
48 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:05
49 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:01:17
50 Bjørn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:01:20
51 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:26
52 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:36
53 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
54 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept Club 0:01:45
55 Connor Swift (GBr) Dimension Data
56 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
57 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Gustav Höög (Swe) Team Coop
60 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:48
61 Adam Toupalik (Cze) Corendon-Circus
62 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:10
63 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:28
64 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:46
65 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:47
66 Henrik Evensen (Nor) Joker Icopal
67 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:03:09
68 Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:03:46
69 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:03:50
70 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
71 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Corendon-Circus
72 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:04:03
73 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
74 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept Club
75 Martin Urianstad (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
76 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:04:06
77 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:04:07
78 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
79 Simon Sellier (Fra) Direct Energie
80 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally Cycling
81 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
82 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:04:10
83 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
84 Justin Jules (Fra) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
85 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 0:04:19
86 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:04:31
87 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:04:58
88 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:05:22
89 David van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
90 Brendan Rhim (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:05:36
91 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:05:51
92 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:41
93 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
94 Herman Dahl (Nor) Joker Icopal
95 Kent Main (RSA) Dimension Data
96 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
97 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
98 Miguel Bryon (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
99 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
100 Justin Mottier (Fra) Vital Concept Club
101 Axel Journiaux (Fra) Direct Energie
102 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:06:58
103 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:03
104 Bram Welten (Ned) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:10:47
105 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling 0:13:36
106 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:17:30
107 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
108 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
109 Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
110 Julien Mortier (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
111 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
112 Sindre Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:18:28
113 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:25:25

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 3:50:09
2 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:00:04
3 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:06
4 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:09
5 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:00:10
6 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept Club
7 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
8 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
9 Krister Hagen (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:15
10 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
11 Erwann Corbel (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:00:17
12 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:20
13 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
14 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:23
15 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
16 Yannick Martinez (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:25
17 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
18 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:00:30
20 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:34
21 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:35
22 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
23 Kenny Molly (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
24 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
26 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker Icopal
27 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
28 Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
29 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
30 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
31 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:37
32 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:40
33 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
34 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy
35 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
36 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
37 Øyvind Lukkedal (Nor) Team Coop
38 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
39 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
40 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
41 Clement Russo (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
42 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:44
43 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:47
44 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
45 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:00:57
46 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
47 Louis Bendixen (Den) Team Coop 0:01:04
48 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:15
49 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:01:27
50 Bjørn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:01:30
51 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:36
52 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:46
53 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
54 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:54
55 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept Club 0:01:55
56 Connor Swift (GBr) Dimension Data
57 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Gustav Höög (Swe) Team Coop
60 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:58
61 Adam Toupalik (Cze) Corendon-Circus
62 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:20
63 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:38
64 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:56
65 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:57
66 Henrik Evensen (Nor) Joker Icopal
67 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:03:19
68 Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:03:54
69 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:04:00
70 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
71 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Corendon-Circus
72 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:04:13
73 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
74 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept Club
75 Martin Urianstad (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
76 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:04:16
77 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:04:17
78 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
79 Simon Sellier (Fra) Direct Energie
80 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally Cycling
81 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
82 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:04:20
83 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
84 Justin Jules (Fra) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
85 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 0:04:29
86 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:04:41
87 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:05:08
88 Tom Meeusen (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:05:32
89 David van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
90 Brendan Rhim (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:05:46
91 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:06:01
92 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:49
93 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:06:51
94 Herman Dahl (Nor) Joker Icopal
95 Kent Main (RSA) Dimension Data
96 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
97 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
98 Miguel Bryon (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
99 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
100 Justin Mottier (Fra) Vital Concept Club
101 Axel Journiaux (Fra) Direct Energie
102 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:07:08
103 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:13
104 Bram Welten (Ned) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:10:57
105 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling 0:13:46
106 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:17:40
107 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
108 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
109 Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
110 Julien Mortier (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
111 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
112 Sindre Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:18:38
113 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:25:32