August 16, 2026
The race will leave Sortland, the home base for the four days of the Arctic Race, and head primarily in an Easterly direction around the countless islands and fjords for 190 km to the finish in Narvik. Yesterday gave us definition in the GC but today could offer redemption for others who came up short on Storheia Summit. There are three categorized climbs on course but none are more difficult than 2 km, 7% Balteskaret Summit which peaks with 64 km to go. The real show down should come in the last 15 km of the stage. There is a Bonus Sprint in Øyjord which is nestled amongst three little kickers that will sap the legs. The final climb starts 3 km from the line and averages 8% over that distance. Yesterday was a slow and patient grind but expect that this climb will be ridden at warp speed which may suit different characteristics than the goat track to Storheia.
Race Summary
More light rain was on the menu for today with cloudy and foggy conditions that made the atmosphere feel closed in. When the flag dropped, there was a real fight to make the break. It was still going when they hit the Karingen Summit after 47 km of racing. At the top, Finnish Champion Axel Källberg of Lucky Sport took the points ahead of his teammate Teodor De Luca and Jon Agirre of Euskatel-Euskadi which neutralized the KOM competition for the first climb. A group of three broke away after the climb and established a gap but importantly, neither Morthen Wang Baksaas or Eirik Vang Aas were present which all but guaranteed Baksaas the final KOM jersey at the end of the day. The three representatives in the break were Anders Foldager of Jayco AlUla and Ådne Holter and Henrik Pedersen of Uno-X Mobility. When cameras began rolling, the leaders had 58 km to go with a 2 minute 40 second lead on the peloton being led by XDS-Astana and Pinarello Q36.5.
Best placed in GC among the break was Foldager who started the day at 1 minute 47 seconds. As the kilometers ticked down, the gap was out to 3 minutes and Foldager was becoming a threat to XDS-Astana. Foldager and the Uno-X Mobility duo started the 1 km, 8% Skoddebergvatnet with exactly 3 minutes and added a few more by the top. NSN Cycling got involved in the chase as did Lotto Intermarché and the race was truly on.
Over the next 20 km, the gap was paired back to a more reasonable 2 minutes 25 seconds. The break barreled down into Bjerkvik on a wide, long, and straight road with the deep blue waters of Herjangs Fjord over their right shoulders. The peloton got very active with 15 km to go on the run in to the Bonus Sprint in Øyjord. Teams were pushing to move forward which increased the speed and cut the gap to just 1 minute 15 seconds with 13 km to go, 1 km from the Bonus Sprint. The road narrowed and started to rise up the first little bump heading towards Narvik. Foldager took the uncontested sprint for 6 seconds but the gap was coming down and his GC rise had all but crumbled back down.
The race sped across the Hålogaland Bridge, an incredible suspension bridge spanning the Rombaken Fjord, at warp speed to position for the city streets of Narvik and the final climb. The little bumps leading towards the bridge trimmed the peloton by at least one third but the bunch still carried full momentum and was eating up kilometers very quickly. Modern Adventure, Lotto Intermarché, TotalEnergies, and Jayco AlUla were the prominent teams pushing the pace but race leaders XDS-Astana were never far from the front.
The three leaders reached the final rise at 3.6 km to go with just 17 seconds in hand. Out of the peloton jumped Thomas Gachignard of TotalEnergies who romped across the gap with only Pedersen being able to latch on to the coat tails of the flying Frenchman. Jayco AlUla set up the chase and were 10 seconds back with 2 km to go. Pedersen could not hold the wheel of Gachignard who went solo but there was still firepower waiting patiently in the bunch. Gachignard was putting everything into the effort and still holding around 10 seconds by the time he hit 1 km to go. The pace went out of the peloton and Henrik Teslo Fjellheim from Lillehammer CK went clear to try and close down the leader. Under the red kite, Modern Adventure picked up the pace, catching Fjellheim, but they were not making a dent into Gachignard. At 700 meters to go, Cedrik Bakke Christophersen of Unibet Rose Rockets attacked from the favorites group and immediately got a gap. His fresh legs brought him across to Gachignard in no time and went passed with no reaction. Christophersen powered into the last 300 meters with a solid gap but the GC riders were starting move. Ludovico Crescioli of Polti-VisitMalta was on a rampage and closing fast but he ran out of real estate. Christophersen crossed the line, exhausted but exalted by his effort at the same time. Crescioli came home for second place at 3 seconds just in front of Guillermo Thomas Silva of XDS-Astana in third.
No time gaps were recorded in the top 10 which meant Guillermo Thomas Silva sealed the overall title. Lennert Van Eetvelt held his second place, finishing 14 seconds down with Alessandro Pinarello rounding out the podium in third at 25 seconds. Yesterday's revelation, Robbe Dhondt of Picnic-PostNL Raisin, had a difficult time on the last climb and dropped from fourth to eleventh overall but there are signs of good things to come for the young Belgian.