Arctic Race of Norway 8th-11th of August

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Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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Maaaaaaaarten said:
I don't see what going further north has to add to a race, unless they're going to race in the snow at -10 celcius in Greenland or something. The lovely scenery at least distracted from the boring race though. :)

Put an asphalt road up one of those mountains, make sure the wind is blowing causing an echelon stage next year and this would be a great race.
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A hilly stage around Tromsø would be great. I know that the county of Troms helped sponsor the event this year so I can hope for that. No huge climbs but many small ones. Also, how far south do you reckon they can go? I reckon Vassbotnfjell has to be within range, although it would have to be a HTF, and it's also fairly isolated, so I could see that being a problem. Are there not some useful climbs around the Mo i Rana area?
 
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Normandy

Aug 16, 2011
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Libertine Seguros said:
A hilly stage around Tromsø would be great. I know that the county of Troms helped sponsor the event this year so I can hope for that. No huge climbs but many small ones. Also, how far south do you reckon they can go? I reckon Vassbotnfjell has to be within range, although it would have to be a HTF, and it's also fairly isolated, so I could see that being a problem. Are there not some useful climbs around the Mo i Rana area?
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Nice to have a new race - totally different environment to any other race. Makes a change from the multitude of races from the low countries/France etc. I can't think of another race with so many bridges, and a tunnel under the sea

I agree a hilly stage would be a good addition. Hopefully next year more big teams might be encouraged to compete
 
D

Dazed and Confused

Jan 27, 2012
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Karl Max said:
snipped...

For me it was great to get a chance to get some photos of the peleton and to see them in real life, not only on tv. I think ASO is doinbg a great job bringing cycling to new parts of the world, it is really what cycling needs to develope in the right direction.
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If you provide ASO with enough cash they will come to a place near you...

But really it will not take much to make the race better, just a few hills (steep) here and there. GIve the riders an opportunity to race along the way, not just the final few kms on each stage.
 
Maaaaaaaarten

Maaaaaaaarten

Oct 23, 2011
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Libertine Seguros said:
A hilly stage around Tromsø would be great. I know that the county of Troms helped sponsor the event this year so I can hope for that. No huge climbs but many small ones. Also, how far south do you reckon they can go? I reckon Vassbotnfjell has to be within range, although it would have to be a HTF, and it's also fairly isolated, so I could see that being a problem. Are there not some useful climbs around the Mo i Rana area?
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I think they can go as far south as the pole circle, since it's hyped up to be the only cycling race above the pole circle. Unfortunately that excludes the most mountainous part of Norway and the part that has ski areas with good roads leading up to them and something on the top to host a MTF. The race so far seems too have been a Tour of the Lofoten really. As long as it does that, it will be difficult to get a decent hilly stage.

I think most bigger towns are built up against a mountain wall. There can always be a finishing circuit with a small hill in a suburb in one of those towns. But that would still be a bit underwhelming considering all the mountains we see all day, imo.

A finishing circuit in Tromsø could be good, though. :)
 
Karl Max

Karl Max

Apr 28, 2011
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Maaaaaaaarten said:
I don't see what going further north has to add to a race, unless they're going to race in the snow at -10 celcius in Greenland or something. The lovely scenery at least distracted from the boring race though. :)

Put an asphalt road up one of those mountains, make sure the wind is blowing causing an echelon stage next year and this would be a great race.
Click to expand...

Well the weather in north is pretty unpredictable so the weather here was pretty good during the race, so next year can be rain and wind and no scenery at all. But my point is that is nice that people from other parts of the world than south and central Europe get the canche to see top cycling at their home roads rather than travel all the way to central Europe to see the sport. This is good for cycling in the long term, cause it will increase the interest all over the world not only in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.
 
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Lundefugl

Aug 11, 2013
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I did some research by checking Strava and found a couple of interesting hills/mountains that could be used to improve the race. This is what I found:

Kistefjellet - 9km, 10,9%

Norddalen - 10,1km, 7,3%

(Note: I do not know if the hills are paved)

There were also several smaller hills around the area which could make this an exciting race, and I hope they will be included in the future!

I actually liked the first edition of the race, and was impressed with both the scenery and the production (well, its ASO). This race has got a great potensial, and with a bit more challenging stages and a higher leveled field it could turn out to be one of my favourite races. After what I've read, the riders liked what they saw, and maybe the rumours about this beautiful race will spread around in the peloton, and give us a good starting list for the race already in 2014. That sure would be nice!

Jean Etienne Amaury picturing the TdF to start in Lofoten some time. (Article in Norwegian)
 
G

GoArctic

Aug 12, 2013
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Lundefugl said:
I did some research by checking Strava and found a couple of interesting hills/mountains that could be used to improve the race. This is what I found:

Kistefjellet - 9km, 10,9%

Norddalen - 10,1km, 7,3%

(Note: I do not know if the hills are paved)

There were also several smaller hills around the area which could make this an exciting race, and I hope they will be included in the future!



Jean Etienne Amaury picturing the TdF to start in Lofoten some time. (Article in Norwegian)
Click to expand...

None of the hills you mention are paved. Norddalen is part of the Lavka Race. The biggest MTB race in the North of Norway and it is a spectacular climb, but impossible to climb on a road-bike.

Roads in the North usually go along the coast and Norwegians really know how to drill holes and tunnels both under the fjords and through the mountains. The cities are located along the coast and an international stage race of this size needs to provide the logistics of hotels etc. This limits the choices for the Arctic Race. The North of Norway is large in geography, but it's not that many cities that can host a stage and most of them are naturally placed along the coast. Even larger inland towns are placed in the lowlands. For those of us who have experienced the arctic weather and climate in the altitudes this is not strange.

But it should be possible to include some smaller climbs and harder stages for the future. Around Tromsø there should be some great possibilities. The problem is that some of the best areas don't have a good enough road standards. The success of the first race could help to improve some of these roads. Kvaløya near Tromsø could be nice. The island of Senja and areas near the Lyngen Alps could also be interesting for the future and these places could give some breathtaking heli-scenes for TV. Areas around Narvik could also provide some good climbs, but that would mean closing down the biggest roads and the entry in and out of Sweden for that day with all the difficulties that would cause for the transportation industries.
 
flyor64

flyor64

Mar 18, 2009
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Libertine Seguros said:
A hilly stage around Tromsø would be great. I know that the county of Troms helped sponsor the event this year so I can hope for that. No huge climbs but many small ones. Also, how far south do you reckon they can go? I reckon Vassbotnfjell has to be within range, although it would have to be a HTF, and it's also fairly isolated, so I could see that being a problem. Are there not some useful climbs around the Mo i Rana area?
Click to expand...

The race director was in the paper on saturday saying that his goal is to have a start on Svalbard and a stage in Tromsø. So it would seem he is in agreement with you :D He was overwhelmed with the support and turn-out and is promising a parcours to match the amazing scenery.

FWIW they had more people in attendance at the finale than the entire town´s population. It was very cool to see on the TV here in the south, and is very tempting to get up north and see it live.
 
G

GoArctic

Aug 12, 2013
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RedheadDane said:
Just a thought! Imagine if Hushovd hadn't won!
I think there would've been declared National Day of Mourning in Norway! :p
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Thor found his form just in time, but has had one and a half year of bad results and struggling with sickness. The race suited him, but it wasn't an easy win. BMC had to work hard for it and the last stage had many attacks.

A popular winner of course, but I think people in the North of Norway would have been happy with any winner. Just to host the event up here was a big happening. Impressive how many people showed up. The Cities had more spectators during the stages than inhabitants.

So this was a great success. A pity Kristoff or Eddy Boasson Hagen wasn't able to be there and give Hushovd a good run for it. I believe the competition will be much harder in 2014 and hopefully the stages even more exciting. Hopefully all the top teams will line up to experience the Arctic Race when they hear the stories. There are some really good ones. The peleton actually almost ran into a crossing moose:eek: !!! This is one of the greatest dangers along the roads up here along with reindeers.
 
RedheadDane

RedheadDane

May 5, 2010
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Maybe the organizers have a secret plan of bringing cycling to the polar bears! :p

card.jpg
 
G

GoArctic

Aug 12, 2013
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When people in Longyearbyen venture out of the town they arm themselves in case a polar bear attacks. Gives a new edge to the race to remember a gun if your going for a break away. :)
 
N

Normandy

Aug 16, 2011
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
yeah.. so Hushovd beat Van Hummel and Arndt.

Must have been a tough race :p
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All credit to the WT teams who supported the ArticTour even if they did not send the strongest teams. Its a pity the event was ignored by other big teams

There might be stronger teams at the Eneco but what did they contribute to the race today? Other than Renshaws solo effort nothing to remember. And all Wiggins did was amble round at the back.
 
RedheadDane

RedheadDane

May 5, 2010
49,607
27,981
28,180
GoArctic said:
When people in Longyearbyen venture out of the town they arm themselves in case a polar bear attacks. Gives a new edge to the race to remember a gun if your going for a break away. :)
Click to expand...

Instead of the gendarmes just being tasked with getting rowdi spectators out of the way they would get a brand new task:
Getting rowdy polar bears out of the way! :cool:

But of course I have a feeling a polar bear's immediate reaction to the noise of a pro peloton would be RUN AWAY!
 
flyor64

flyor64

Mar 18, 2009
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RedheadDane said:
Svalbard?
I'm sorry but...
Do they even have roads up there?
I thought it was just some research-guys. And polar bears...
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Libertine Seguros said:
You could have a prologue or circuit race in Longyearbyen I guess, but there's not really much of a population to get an atmosphere going!
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LOL :D

Just relaying what was written in the article. Granted, it could have just been an extremely pleased race director throwing out crazy ideas...but, considering some of the stuff we've seen to-date from other RDs I guess anything is possible...

As to the post from LS, he could have intended a prologue. I don't remember him specifically mentioning it, but he did say something like "kicking it off in Svalbard" so that would make sense.
 
Maaaaaaaarten

Maaaaaaaarten

Oct 23, 2011
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Lol, lots of Eritreans in the finish. Didn't expect all these Africans swinging big Eritrean flags in a race in Norway :p
 
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