Arctic Race of Norway 2019 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

August 17, 2019

Arctic Race of Norway 2019 – Stage 3 – Sortland – Storheia Summit : 176,5 km

In a busy week of racing, from America to Belgium and Spain, the Arctic Race of Norway takes us above the Arctic Circle for the northern-most race in professional cycling. It is surely among the most picturesque, too, and this year the headline act is the all-new summit finish on Storheia, which is being dubbed ‘the Norwegian Mont Ventoux’. At 3.5km in length, and 504m above sea level, it’s some way short of ‘The Giant of Provence’, but shares an exposed mountainside with panoramic views and a susceptibility to strong winds, not to mention a weather station tower at the top. With gradients that average 11.8 per cent, it will be decisive in terms of the race as a whole, appearing on the third of the four stages. In keeping with the traditional format, there is one other ‘hilly’ stage – replicating the 2017 stage in Narvik won by Dylan Teuns – along with two flatter days for the sprinters at the start of the race. In terms of location, the race returns to its roots for its seventh edition, with a return to the Lofoten archipelago that was used for the inaugural edition back in 2013. “This seventh edition of the Arctic Race of Norway will again be spectacular and undecided just until the last day in Narvik,” says race ambassador Thor Hushovd.

Odd Christian Eiking (Wanty Gobert) gave Norway a home win at the Arctic Race of Norway, winning atop the steep 3.5km climb to Storheia Summit on the Queen stage 3 of this year’s race.

Eiking managed to edge clear of Warren Barguil (Arkea Samsic) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) in the final 400 metres to win alone.

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) tried to stay with the leaders on the 11.8 per cent climb but cracked half-way up and eventually eased up, losing more than a minute and any chance of overall victory.

Barguil limited his losses to Eiking to five seconds, with Lutsenko losing 13 seconds. The time bonuses meant Barguil took the race lead, with Lutsenko second art just three seconds. Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy) is third at 15 seconds, with only Sunday’s fourth and final hilly stage to Narvik left to race.

“I have mixed feeling,” Barguil admitted after pulling on the orange leader’s jersey but missing out on the stage victory.

“I knew Chris was racing at home, that he wanted to win and that he’s in good shape. The climb suited him and he was better than me. I got close but not enough; even if second is not bad.

“I don’t know if a three-second lead is enough to win tomorrow. It’s not only Lutsenko; there are a lot of guys at 15 seconds or so. There are also the intermediate sprints and Lutsenko can catch if he wins one of them. I need to be careful and I can trust my teammates so that we can do our best.”

The loop around the islands and inlets of Nordland were stunning but everyone in the peloton was focused on the climb to the finish at Storheia, dubbed the Mont Ventoux of Norway, due to its barren peak and huge communications antenna.

An early break of five riders included sprinter and stage 2 winner Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels). They opened a lead of 3:20 but Astana, Katusha-Alpecin and Delko Marseille lead the chase.

Local rider Erlend Blikra (Team Coop) was the last to be caught as the Storheia climb loomed large and the newly surfaced road steepened. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) was dropped after a mechanical problem, with Loïc Vliegen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) the first to go clear off the bunch, perhaps as a tactical play by Eiking. Barguil followed him, the gradient and the increase in speed cracking van der Poel.

Lutsenko and Hugo Houle (Astana), Eiking and Barguil were left up front, as everyone else fought to limit their losses.

Lilian Calmejane (Total Direct Energie) and Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy) made the junction inside the steep last kilometre as the end game approached but Eiking soon made his move, powering away from Barguil and Lutsenko, after they had watched each other.

“It feels amazing, to take my first win of the year, here on this finish, with these strong riders, it’s an incredible feeling,” Eiking said.

“They slowed with one kilometre to go and I saw riders coming from behind, so l knew that I had to go early. So I went as hard as could with 400 metres to go. At one moment I thought: ‘Oh shit! This is not going to work’ But I had a big, big gap and could keep going and win. I’m really happy.”

Results :
1 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 4:07:32
2 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:00:05
3 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:13
4 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:00:17
5 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
6 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:00:23
7 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:00:32
8 Simon Carr (GBr) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:36
9 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
10 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team
11 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:47
12 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data
13 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:53
14 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:58
15 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
16 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
17 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
18 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
19 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:01:06
20 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 0:01:09
21 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
22 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:19
23 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 0:01:22
24 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:25
25 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:01:29
26 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
27 Bjørn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
28 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
29 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:37
30 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
31 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:01:42
32 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:01:45
33 Kim Magnusson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
34 Andreas Vangstad (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:01:52
35 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:54
36 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:02
37 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:09
38 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:02:11
39 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:17
40 Pit Leyder (Lux) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:02:22
41 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
42 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
43 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
44 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:02:29
45 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:42
46 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
47 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:02:53
48 Louis Bendixen (Den) Team Coop
49 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
50 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
51 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:03:17
52 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:03:22
53 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
54 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:30
55 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
56 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
57 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:03:43
58 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:03:53
59 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:04:01
60 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkéa Samsic 0:04:05
61 Øivind Lukkedal (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:04:32
62 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:04:47
63 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:05:03
64 Herman Dahl (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:05:22
65 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
66 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
67 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:05:27
68 Aksel Fischer Aasheim (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
69 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:05:32
70 Enzo Bernard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
71 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
72 Mathias Van Gompel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
73 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:05:36
74 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:05:39
76 Ander Barrenetxea Uriarte (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:05:49
77 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:05:57
78 Julien Mortier (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:05:59
79 Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:06:06
80 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:06:08
81 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:06:25
82 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:06:37
83 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:06:39
84 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:09
85 Olav Hjemsæter (Nor) Team Coop 0:07:26
86 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
87 Lars Saugstad (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:07:45
88 Erlend Jordbrekk Blikra (Nor) Team Coop 0:07:50
89 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:08:10
90 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
91 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
92 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
93 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
94 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
95 Kenny Molly (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:08:13
96 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:08:19
97 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:08:26
98 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
99 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:08:33
100 Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
101 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:08:36
102 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:08:51
103 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
104 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
105 Jose Daniel Viejo Redondo (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:09:36
106 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:09:37
107 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:09:54
108 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:11:24
109 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:11:29
110 Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
111 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
112 Håkon Lunder Aalrust (Nor) Team Coop
113 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:11:33
114 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
115 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
116 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 11:23:56
2 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:03
3 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:15
4 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:00:18
5 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
6 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:35
7 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:00:37
8 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data 0:00:48
9 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
10 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:00:52
11 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:54
12 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:56
13 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:59
14 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
15 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
16 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:05
17 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 0:01:07
18 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
19 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:26
20 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:30
21 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
22 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
23 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:01:43
24 Kim Magnusson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:01:46
25 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:55
26 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:18
27 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:03:40
28 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:05:56
29 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:07:15
30 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:08:20
31 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:08:46
32 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:08:59
33 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:41
34 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:16:35
35 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:17:17
36 Simon Carr (GBr) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:17:21
37 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 0:17:54
38 Bjørn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:18:14
39 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:18:22
40 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
41 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:18:30
42 Andreas Vangstad (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:18:37
43 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:18:47
44 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:18:54
45 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:18:56
46 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:19:07
47 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
48 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
49 Pit Leyder (Lux) Cofidis Solutions Credits
50 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:19:27
51 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
52 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:19:29
53 Louis Bendixen (Den) Team Coop 0:19:38
54 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
55 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
56 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:20:02
57 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:20:07
58 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:20:15
59 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
60 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
61 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:20:38
62 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:20:45
63 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkéa Samsic 0:20:50
64 Øivind Lukkedal (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:21:17
65 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:21:32
66 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:05
67 Herman Dahl (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:22:07
68 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
69 Enzo Bernard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:22:17
70 Mathias Van Gompel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
71 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
72 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
73 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:22:21
74 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
75 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:24
76 Ander Barrenetxea Uriarte (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:22:34
77 Julien Mortier (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:22:44
78 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:22:50
79 Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:22:51
80 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:23:10
81 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:23:18
82 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:23:22
83 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:23:24
84 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:23:32
85 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:23:54
86 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:24:11
87 Olav Hjemsæter (Nor) Team Coop
88 Erlend Jordbrekk Blikra (Nor) Team Coop 0:24:34
89 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:24:55
90 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
91 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
92 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
93 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
94 Kenny Molly (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:24:58
95 Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:25:18
96 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
97 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:25:48
98 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:25:58
99 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:26:01
100 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:26:03
101 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:11
102 Lars Saugstad (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:26:14
103 Jose Daniel Viejo Redondo (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:26:21
104 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:30
105 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:26:54
106 Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:28:08
107 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team 0:28:09
108 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:28:14
109 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
110 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
111 Håkon Lunder Aalrust (Nor) Team Coop
112 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:28:18
113 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
114 Aksel Fischer Aasheim (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:29:34
115 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:33:43
116 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:36:37