Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

August 5, 2021

Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 1 – Tromsø – Tromsø : 142,4 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.

Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) scored a massive win on home soil with victory on stage 1 of the Arctic Race of Norway.

The Norwegian kicked for the line with just over 1km to go on the closing circuit and held off a late charge from Alexander Kristoff (Norway) and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels) to win by two seconds. The win gives Hoelgaard the first leader’s jersey in this year’s race.

Hoelgaard’s winning move came after a demanding day over a relentlessly undulating course. In the finale a number of attacks were made with Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) and Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché) notably aggressive with a powerful two-man attack on the final climb with just over 3km to go. However the pair were never out of sight of the main field and were quickly brought back before Hoelgaard jumped clear.

The 26-year-old, who won a stage in the race in 2019, and finished second overall in 2018, never looked back. He dropped the one rider able to hold his pace with under 1km to go and in a technical town finish managed to hold off the chasing peloton to take a memorable win for himself and his impressive team.

The early stage of the race had seen a four rider move escape the peloton with Alex Gougeard (AG2R Citroen), Alex Colman (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise), Andre Tore Vabo (Team Coop), and Gleb Brussenskiy (Astana Premier Tech) building up to a two minute advantage over the peloton.

Another four man breakaway set off in pursuit but they were reeled in with around 30km to go. At the point the original four man move had just 52 seconds of an advantage over the chasing bunch and it was Gougeard who moved clear on his own with 20km remaining. The Frenchman lasted 10km before the peloton finally made the catch but with little control at the front of the punch, and plenty of small rises dotted over the course it was only a matter of time before the elastic broke once more.

The highly rated Petr Vakoč found himself in a dangerous group off the front inside the last 7km but once more there was just enough cohesion in the peloton to nullify the move before Hoelgaard seized his moment and broke free.

Results :
1 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 3:11:29
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Norwegian National Team 0:00:02
3 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
4 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
5 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop
6 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
8 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
9 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
11 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
12 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
13 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Delko
14 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) TotalEnergies
15 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
16 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash
17 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
18 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
20 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Norwegian National Team
21 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
22 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
23 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
24 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
25 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Team Coop
26 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko
27 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Norwegian National Team
28 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:15
30 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
31 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:20
32 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
33 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
35 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
36 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
37 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
38 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
39 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
40 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB
41 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
42 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech
43 Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Delko
44 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) TotalEnergies
45 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:00:28
47 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash
48 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
50 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
51 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies
52 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
53 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal WB
54 Henok Mulueberhan (Eri) Qhubeka NextHash
55 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
56 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
57 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:00:35
58 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:00:57
59 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 0:01:09
60 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:21
61 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:01:23
62 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:01:27
63 Andre Drege (Nor) Norwegian National Team
64 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
66 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
67 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
68 Tord Gudmestad (Nor) Team Coop 0:01:54
69 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:02:28
70 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:29
71 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
72 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
73 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
74 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Burgos-BH
76 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
77 Niki Terpstra (Ned) TotalEnergies 0:02:32
78 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal WB
79 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
80 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
81 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
82 André Carvalho (Por) Cofidis
83 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
84 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
85 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
86 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
87 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Team Coop
88 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation
89 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:02:54
90 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:02:56
91 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Delko
92 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:02
93 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:03:14
94 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
95 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
97 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Qhubeka NextHash
98 Peio Goikoetxea Goiogana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
99 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Tore Andre Aase Vabø (Nor) Team Coop
101 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Norwegian National Team
102 Ådne Holter (Nor) Norwegian National Team 0:03:48
103 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:07
104 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
105 Rodrigo Alvarez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:08:21
106 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
107 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:08:28
108 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:09:27
109 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:13:59
110 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:18:12

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 3:11:19
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Norwegian National Team 0:00:06
3 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:00:08
4 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:09
5 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:10
6 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:11
7 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:12
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
9 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
10 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
11 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
12 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
13 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Delko
14 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) TotalEnergies
15 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
16 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash
17 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
18 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
20 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Norwegian National Team
21 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
22 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
23 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
24 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
25 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Team Coop
26 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko
27 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Norwegian National Team
28 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Team Coop 0:00:25
30 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
31 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:30
32 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
33 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
35 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
36 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
37 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
38 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
39 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
40 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB
41 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
42 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech
43 Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Delko
44 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) TotalEnergies
45 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:00:38
47 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash
48 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
50 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
51 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies
52 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
53 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal WB
54 Henok Mulueberhan (Eri) Qhubeka NextHash
55 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
56 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
57 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:00:45
58 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:01:07
59 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 0:01:19
60 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:31
61 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:01:33
62 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:01:37
63 Andre Drege (Nor) Norwegian National Team
64 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
66 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
67 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
68 Tord Gudmestad (Nor) Team Coop 0:02:04
69 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:36
70 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:02:38
71 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:39
72 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
73 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
74 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Burgos-BH
76 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
77 Niki Terpstra (Ned) TotalEnergies 0:02:42
78 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal WB
79 Lubomir Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
80 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
81 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
82 André Carvalho (Por) Cofidis
83 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
84 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
85 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
86 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
87 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Team Coop
88 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation
89 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:03:04
90 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:06
91 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Delko
92 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
93 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:21
94 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:03:24
95 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
97 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Qhubeka NextHash
98 Peio Goikoetxea Goiogana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
99 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Tore Andre Aase Vabø (Nor) Team Coop
101 Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Norwegian National Team
102 Ådne Holter (Nor) Norwegian National Team 0:03:58
103 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:17
104 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
105 Rodrigo Alvarez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:08:31
106 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
107 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:08:38
108 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:09:37
109 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:14:09
110 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:18:22