Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

August 7, 2021

Arctic Race of Norway 2021 – Stage 3 – Finnsnes – Målselv : 184,5 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) won the Målselv uphill finish at the Arctic Tour of Norway, holding of a late charge from Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty) and Victor Lafay (Cofidis) after the 3.7km climb to the line shook out the peloton and revealed who were the best climbers.

Hermans is also the new race leader after Alexander Kristoff (Norway) lost time. He will be hoping to secure overall victory on Sunday after the final hilly stage to Harstad. The 35-year-old Belgian leads Eiking by four seconds in the overall classification, with Lafay third at six seconds. Talented young Italian Samuele Battistella (Astana-Premier Tech) was fourth on the stage at 12 seconds and moved up fourth overall.

The Belgian won a similar stage to Målselv six years ago but then lost a chance of overall victory on the final stage. This time the bonus seconds awarded during the stage and at the finish could be a factor in deciding the final winner.

“It was so nice because I won here also in 2015 and I’ve replayed this finish many times when I was riding on the rollers because it was so surprising that I won,” Hermans said.

“It was really nice to do it again just the same. When you start as a favourite there’s a really big thing that falls off your shoulders. I’m so happy I could finish this off for the team.”

Hermans used his knowledge of the finish and of his own ability to win the stage.

“I know that some guys who were there with me were more explosive than me and that’s why I went at 500m, at 95%, almost all out, knowing that I could match them in the sprint after the corner,” Hermans explained.

“If you have good legs and you start with 250m to go, with all you have, it’s very difficult to pass. It was good I knew this finish.”

The 184.5km stage included a long loop around the island of Senja, offering further views of northern Norway and the spectacular coastline and summer skies.

Five riders formed the early break after 20km, with Frederik Dversnes (Team Coop) riding to defend the lead in the mountain’s jersey that awards a huge quantity of Norwegian salmon to the final winner.

Also in the move were stage 2 winner Martin Laas (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jens Reynders (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Julien Duval (Ag2r Citroen) and they opened a 2:30 lead as the Uno-X team lead the chase.

Arkea-Samsic took control of the peloton with 20km to go, riding for Warren Barguil and bringing the gap down to one minute.

Dversnes and Azparren dropped the rest of the break as the road headed to the foot of the climb but the peloton came up to them quickly as the gradient and a series of switchbacks began to hurt.

The peloton was soon lined out, with gaps opening all the time and riders dropped. Kristoff was gapped with two kilometres to go but fought on to try to limit his losses. However, he finished a minute down and so lost his leader’s yellow jersey any chance of overall success.

Giro d’Italia stage winner Lafay attacked with a kilometre to go and Hermans, Eiking and talented young Italian Samuele Battistella (Astana-PremierTech) went after him as others slipped back and lost time.

The sprint called for one final effort and Hermans knew he had to hit out early. Eiking was near him and almost snatched the win with a late throw to the line but Hermans won by less than a wheel to take the race lead and give him a shot at final victory on Sunday.

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

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