August 14, 2026
The harder of the two sprint days was yesterday so any question of a different result today would be highly improbable. At 180 km, the riders set off from Bø i Vesterålen and head North to the Northern most point in the race with the finish in Andenes. There are two climbs early on as the race back tracks yesterday's stage over the Storvatnet Summit and across the mighty bridge that spans the Sortlandssundet straight. Two bridges later, the riders will find themselves on the island of Andøya in the region of Vesterålen where they continue North hugging the Western most shores of the island along the Norwegian Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The last 120 km are almost entirely flat but the race should spice up coming into 6 km to go with a Bonus Sprint at the finish line before one last lap, just like yesterday's finale. There are four 90 degree bends between 3 and 2 km to go before the road straightens out to the line.
Race Summary
The weather reminded everyone that they are indeed above the Arctic Circle. Smatterings rain were forecasted for most of the day and with temperatures only around 13C (55F), it was a shock to the system for many. Riders were bundled up like it was a winter training ride at the start but when the flag dropped, it was very active as cross winds were possible later in the day. The battle for the break continued all the way to the base of Ryggedal with only Lionel Taminiaux of Lotto Intermarché managing to get any distance off the front. Taminiaux was swept up when they reached the categorized part of the climb as the punchier riders were using the incline to create separation. The group was still together at the top as a rider of XDS-Astana crested first with KOM leader Morthen Wang Baksaas of Lucky Sport taking second and a few more points to his tally.
After nearly 35 km of attacking, four riders just rolled off the front and were gone. In the move was Victor Vercouillie of Flanders Baloise, Joseba López of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Ludvik Holsad of Ringerike, and Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg of Lucky Sport. Herman Emil Eriksen of Lillehammer CK set off to bridge up to the break but left it late and had 40 seconds to close. Back in the peloton, race leaders Polti-VisitMalta began to ride when the gap reached 1 minute 30 seconds. Eriksen hung out in no-man's land for kilometer after kilometer but with 125 km to go at the base of the Storvatnet Summit, he had closed to within 25 seconds.
There was no contest for the KOM points and it was Evertsen-Hegreberg who rolled through first at the top. Eriksen joined the leaders to make five at the front for the start of the descent after over 25 km of solo chasing. The scenes over the Sortland Bridge were quite different today with low cloud hanging over the fjords and deep blue water underneath. The gap was still hovering around 1 minute 45 seconds with Polti-VisitMalta and TotalEnergies holding the margin.
The race entered a holding pattern until 59 km to go when Jayco AlUla came to the front and tried to split the race in the bit of wind that was blowing around. It was odd timing because they had multiple men back towards the team car, including German Champion Felix Engelhardt, who were struggling to stay in contact. The acceleration was called off as quickly as it started and the race settled back into its rhythm.
With the finale on the horizon, Uno-X Mobility and Picnic-PostNL Raisin each added a man to the chase which intensified at 25 km from the finish. The gap came down to 45 seconds but then locked in at that margin. Uno-X Mobility put another man into the rotation which had the gap down to 20 seconds with 12.5 km to go. The six leaders pulled through and off but the collective might and momentum of the peloton was baring down and closing quickly.
The break entered the circuit with 11.5 km to go and swung on to much smaller roads that squeezed the peloton when they passed through the same junction. The 90 degree turns were taken safely and the bunch caught the break just outside of 1 km from the line for the Bonus Sprint. NSN Cycling were the ones to close the final meters but it was Lucky Sport who set up a lead out for bonus seconds. The sprint and 6 bonus seconds was won by Guillermo Thomas Silva of XDS-Astana with Vincent Van Hemelen of Flanders Baloise in second and Teodor De Luca of Lucky Sport in third.
Lotto Intermarché and Modern Adventure each took turns on the front of the peloton, lining it out through all of turns in the first half of the lap. Lotto Intermarché had more men committed to staying near the front while Modern Adventure drifted backwards to battle the scrum in the second line of teams. Once again, everyone stayed upright through the series of 90 degree turns as Lotto Intermarché had the first 30 wheels in single file out of the corners with 2 km to go. Ethan Vernon of NSN Cycling was dragged forward and reached the front with 1,500 meters to go and three teammates for support. They took control and led under 1 km to go with Modern Adventure on their left, XDS-Astana on the right, and Uno-X Mobility queued up behind. Inside 500 meters, nearly all of the lead out trains had dissolved and it was every man for themselves. Erlend Blikra of Uno-X Mobility found a teammate who increased the pace as the other sprinters fought for the Norwegian's wheel. Blikra hit the front with 275 meters to go and launched his sprint. It was a long way to go but he got a good jump it was up to the others to close the gap. Vernon found space to move but he started several bike lengths behind and, even though he seemed to hit the highest speed, it was not enough to close down Blikra who took the victory in front of the home crowd. Giovanni Lonardi of Polti-VisitMalta was the best of the rest in third but a full bike length behind Vernon and just a wheel in front of Riley Pickrell of Modern Adventure in fourth.
Lonardi held on to the race lead by 4 seconds to Blikra with De Luca in third, courtesy of the bonus seconds he has picked up in the first two days.