Arctic Race of Norway : Info with one day to go
August 6 th 2025 - 19:18 [GMT + 2]
. The 2025 Arctic Race of Norway held its team presentation on Wednesday afternoon, in Harstad’s Generalhagen park. A first opportunity for fans to get acquainted with the 107 riders and 18 teams that will take part in the event.
. Two-times Olympic gold medalist Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) appears to be the main star of this edition and the main favorite for the overall win, yet he will have to face two former victors in Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) and Dylan Teuns (Cofidis).
. This Arctic Race of Norway marks Alexander Kristoff’s final outing in Norwegian soil as a professional rider before retiring from cycling at the end of the season. With seven stage wins in this race already in his books, he is a man to watch in Thursday’s opening stage between Borkenes and Harstad, which is expected to finish with a bunch sprint.
Some gravel, a summit finish and an intense final circuit
For its 12th edition, the Arctic Race of Norway will feature its traditional four-day scheme with one stage for sprinters in Harstad, an appointment for the classics riders in Sørreisa, a climbing showdown in Målselv, and a great finale in Tromsø where the Midnight Sun jersey will be up for grabs. “It’s the first time we hold a 100% urban circuit in Tromsø,” explains event director Yannick Talabardon. “It’s a 16-kilometre long, intense circuit, with two hills in each one of the 8 full laps. The overall standings will be decided there.” GC riders will first test each other on Saturday, at the slopes of Målselv, “a beautiful climb we know from previous years where splits can happen yet time gaps won’t be too big.” They must also be wary of Friday’s stage to Sørreisa, a flat course seasoned with “a 1,9-kilometre long and slightly uphill gravel sector that gets a bit steeper at some points and can be good for a powerful rider to attack. It will make for an interesting race, as we tackle it three times and, in the last one, we will exit the gravel sector just 8 kilometers from the finish line.” All this under some “Norwegian, yet not Arctic” weather, with temperatures between 15º and 20ºC, mostly sunny skies and some occasional rains.
Tom Pidcock, a star ready to shine in the Arctic sky
The top riders press conference of the 2025 Arctic Race of Norway took place on Wednesday at the Harstad Bike Park, just in front of its pump track where some young riders were enjoying their mountain and BMX bikes to the fullest. An appealing, familiar environment for Tom Pidcock (1999, Leeds), who jokingly said: “I would be jumping out there with some bike if I didn’t have a road race this week.” During the month of July, the Q36.5 rider has been focused on the mountain tracks, claiming a UCI MTB World Cup and the European MTB title to further enrich an already deep palmares that showcases two Olympic golds in this discipline. After this time “away from road racing,” he is making his debut in the Arctic Race of Norway as he considers it “a good preparation race for La Vuelta, and a good opportunity to get my hands in the air.” Pidcock deems the summit finish in Målselv to be “the obvious GC day”, yet is aware that this is “a difficult race to control” and identifies the Uno-X squad as his biggest threat “as it’s their home race and they will be motivated to cause some chaos.”
Last (and 100th?) hurrah for Alexander Kristoff
This week, a Norwegian legend is riding into the midnight sunset. Earlier in the season, Alexander Kristoff (1987, Stavanger) first hinted and later confirmed that this is going to be his final campaign as a professional rider. The Uno-X sprinter has collected 97 victories throughout his 20 years in the UCI ranks, including two Monuments (one Milano-Sanremo, one Tour of Flanders) and four Tour de France stages. His relationship with the Arctic Race of Norway is pretty close, as he has participated no less than 6 times and holds the record for most stage wins (7, four more than Mathieu van der Poel) and more days in the leader jersey (6, two more than Dylan Teuns). “This is a special event for me, as it’s rare to race in my country and I feel at home even though I actually live far away from this region,” he explains. Kristoff is hoping to increase his victory count with three more wins by the end of the season in order to bring his tally to 100. “It is feasible, but I have only won one race this year so far and I thought I was going to be closer by now,” he admits.
Victorious or not, this is going to be a special week for Kristoff. On one hand, because this is his last race in Norway, “and I feel a bit emotional even though I’m not an emotional guy.” On the other, because he is sharing the peloton with his younger brother Felix Ørn-Kristoff (2006, Stavanger - races for Intermarché-Wanty), an European junior road race champion himself. “When I turned pro, Felix was just a small kid breastfeeding from our mom. Seeing him become a pro rider has been very cool.” Yet it carries some responsibilities. “As his older brother, I have to give him a small lecture every now and then…”
In the know and hoping to capitalise
Two former champions and four previous podium finishers at the Arctic Race of Norway are taking part in this 2025 iteration of the event. For none of them the success was more meaningful than for Uno-X’s Andreas Leknessund: “My story with this race started as a kid, watching the pros from the roadside and working as a volunteer, and brought me to take the overall victory home just three years ago,” he sums up. “This year will be ‘next level special’ as the final stage is in my home town, Tromsø, and I’ll be wearing the Norwegian national champion jersey during the week.” Cofidis’ Dylan Teuns did taste the overall win in 2017, claiming two stages in Narvik, where the flights bringing the peloton to Northern Norway landed on Tuesday afternoon… and Tromsø. “Very good memories,” the Belgian says, matter-of-factly. “I finished the Tour de France on a good note after digging deep to struggle through some sicknesses, and I hope to take some advantage of it this week,” he asserts.
Third overall in his two previous participations in this race, Picnic-PostNL’s Kevin Vermaerke is hoping to stand in the top shelf of the podium next Sunday in Tromsø. “The last stage is going to be exciting, and super hard to control,” anticipates the American rider. “The guy in the leader jersey will have a hard time keeping it, and the riders who sit a few seconds behind him will enjoy plenty of opportunities to turn things around.” On that note, XDS-Astana is entering the event with a strong squad and several cards to play - namely, those of the runners-up in 2023 (Christian Scaroni) and 2024 (Clément Champoussin). “We are both hoping for a good result, and will decide who the leader is for the weekend depending on how we feel in the first two stages,” explains the French climber. Last but not least, Israel-Premier Tech’s Hugo Houle (2nd in 2022) is another rider in the know and hoping to turn his wisdom into the best possible result.
Many opportunities to join and enjoy
The Arctic Race of Norway is an event that aims to include and impact the whole community of the places it visits, granting opportunities for every person to join and enjoy the excitement of the world’s northernmost road cycling race. All the people standing on the roadside to watch the riders will also enjoy the passing of the event caravan, featuring more than 30 vehicles promoting the race’s partners. Recreational riders may enter the ARN Challenge on Thursday in Harstad, and so can the younger cyclists in the SNN Mini ARN that will take place at the finishes of the 1st, 2nd and 4th stages. Both events are also open to rollerski fans, and athletes will have their running event on Sunday in Tromsø, too. As a sign of its commitment to Norwegian society as a whole, the Arctic Race of Norway will also give the chance of riding in the race course just hours before the professional peloton to the members of Idretten Skaper Sjanser, an association helping people get their lives back on track after overcoming a rough time in prison or drug recovery programs. Another activity with a deep social meaning is the showcasing of the world’s biggest cake being baked in Borkenes, administrative centre of the Kvæfjord municipality and host of the start of the 1st stage, as the cooks at work mix local residents and refugees from many parts of the world.
A growing range of options to follow the Arctic Race of Norway
Bringing the beauties of the Northern Norwegian landscapes to every corner of the globe is one of the main missions of the Arctic Race of Norway. Host broadcaster TV2 Norway will produce live images for all four days of the event, with the final two hours of racing in the case of the first two stages and a full broadcast for both the third and the final stage. The world’s northernmost road cycling race is increasing its reach by 27 territories, from 156 in 2024 to 183 in 2025, by adding 22 broadcasters to a list that was already 58-strong last year. The event will be shown live in 64 territories across Europe and Asia by Eurosport and Max, while Supersport will broadcast it in Subsaharan Africa as will Claro Sports in Latin America and Abu Dhabi Media in North Africa and the Middle East. Channels and platforms in France (L’Équipe), Belgium (Sport10, Proximus), Russia (Okko), Colombia (RCN, Caracol), Israel (Sport5), Japan (Jsports), New Zealand (Sky Sport), Australia (SBS), Canada and the USA (FloBikes) will also serve live TV pictures of the race to further expand the reach of the race and the range of choice for the spectators. Fans can get updates from the race on social media, via the hashtag #ArcticRace. They will also call who claims the Viking Jersey, a best teammate prize that will be decided by the votes casted on the race’s official X profile (@ArcticRaceofN).
