Corbin Strong: “I bluffed a bit yesterday”

August 9 ^th 2025 - 19:34 [GMT + 2]

Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) leads the 2025 Arctic Race of Norway after its 3rd stage. He also leads the Points and the Young Riders classifications.

“I didn’t want the guys to be thinking about me for today, so I bluffed a bit yesterday in saying this final climb was too much for me. I was quite confident I could deliver a good ride, and I’m happy I managed to keep the leader’s jersey. Unfortunately, my legs really tightened up in the sprint and I couldn’t finish it off. I lost the stage win to Pidcock, but I’m still happy I kept the Midnight Sun jersey coming into the final day of racing tomorrow.”

“I knew that the last corner came with 200 meters to go, so I thought I could let him be first into it and then try to overtake him. Unfortunately, the last corner was a bit longer than I expected. In hindsight, I think I should have gone early - yet that may have not changed the outcome, as the sprint felt very long to me anyway. I think the best guy won today.”

“Tomorrow’s course is good for me, but being in the lead makes things more difficult for me to pull the win off. It will be a very open race on a very hard course. Everyone is going to be very aggressive, because the gaps are still very small on the GC. My team has gone really well here, so I hope we can control the race and seal up the overall victory.”