Archiv für den Monat: November 2018

ARCTIC RACE OF NORWAY 2019

Key points:
 Edition 7 of the Arctic Race of Norway will be held between August 15-18, 2019.
 The Northernmost cycling race in the world will visit the Islands of Lofoten and Vesterålen before finishing at the base of the Nordland ski station in Narvik.
 The race will see the sprinters to battle it out in the first two days. The general classification will be settled during the weekend with an all-new mountain-top finish at Storheia Summit.

The Arctic Race of Norway is a suspense-filled race where the young stars shine each year. In 2018, Dutch rider Mathieu Van Der Poel (Corendon-Circus) won two stages and confirmed all the hopes that have been placed on him on the road. This year again, the fast and powerful riders will get to show their stuff on two weekend stages. Prior to that, the peloton will visit the Lofoten Islands where the sprinters will battle for victory.
For the second time in seven editions, the Arctic Race of Norway will take place on the Lofoten Islands, known around the world for their atypical scenery where the roads run between the mountains and the sea. The town of “Å” will, for the first time, host a stage of the Arctic Race on Thursday, August 15. This small village with such an original name (the final letter in the Norwegian alphabet!) is also called this because it is here where the last inhabitants on the extreme west side of the island live. Over 182 kilometres, the peloton will pass the finish line twice to complete the two loops. Although four classified climbs will be part of the King of the Mountain classification, this won’t inhibit the sprinters from battling for the win at Leknes.

On day two of the race, the riders will, once again, look to both their left and right to admire the stunning Lofoten Islands scenery. Henningsvær is known for having one of the most spectacular football pitches in the world as well as being the start city for stage two, which will finish in Svolvær, and which was featured in the first edition in 2013. The 168.5km-long stage will run along the seafront and will not pose any major difficulties. It will be the ideal finish for sprinters like local hero Alexander Kristoff!
Following the Lofotens, the Arctic Race will change islands to arrive in Vesterålen on Saturday 17 August. This 176.5km-long stage starting in Sortland was designed for the strongest riders with three climbs that will have to be negotiated before the riders take on an all-new ramp at Storheia Summit, in the town of Melbu (3.5kms at 11.8%). A crazy finish similar to the famous “repechos” of the Vuelta a España that will start just a week later and could be of interest to some riders looking for performance on the final big tour of the season. At the highest altitude, the caravan will have the chance to admire the splendid panoramic view at the observation level that reminds one of a certain Mont Ventoux.

The Arctic Race of Norway will return to the mainland for the final stage that has the look of a rollercoaster between L⌀dingen and Narvik. While the start city will be all-new, all the roads of this 4th stage (166.5kms) have already been raced on in the Arctic Race. During this stage, the “Midnight Sun Jersey” of the leader of the general classification and the “Salmon Jersey” of the best climber could switch riders because there will be six climbs, three before the final 10.5km circuit then three others (Skistua Summit: 2.2kms at 6.6%) located on the same circuit where Dylan Teuns took a memorable win in 2017. The Narvik ski station will conclude this 7th edition at the bottom of the slopes. The town is bidding to become the Norwegian candidate to host the 2027 World Alpine Skiing Championships.

Route of the 2019 Arctic Race of Norway:
 Thursday 15th August, stage 1: Å – Leknes, 182kms
 Friday 16th August, stage 2: Henningsvær – Svolvær, 168.5kms
 Saturday 17th August, stage 3: Sortland – Storheia Summit (Melbu), 176.5kms
 Sunday 18th August, stage 4: L⌀dingen – Narvik, 166.5kms

The Arctic Race of Norway shines the spotlight on the stars of tomorrow
A few hours before the arrival of the professionals in the streets of Narvik, the 17 and 18-year old talents coming from all over Norway and five European countries will have their moment in the sun in the Arctic Heroes of Tomorrow Race. This race for junior riders organised jointly with Equinor, the main sponsor of the Arctic Race of Norway, and the Norwegian Cycling Federation, has become the revelatory event of the future stars of the men’s and women’s pelotons in a country whose passion for cycling is well-known. Winner of the first edition of the Arctic Heroes of Tomorrow Race in 2013 in Harstad, Kristoffer Halvorsen won the World Junior Road Race Championship in 2016, before joining the Sky team this season.

Thor Hushovd, World Champion and race ambassador: “This 7th edition of the Arctic Race of Norway will again be spectacular and undecided just until the last day in Narvik. The first two stages will be an open-air show. In 2013 when I won stage 2 at Svolvær, I rode the most beautiful stage of my career on that day. The finishes at Storheia Summit, the «Mont Ventoux» of the Vesterålen Islands and at Narvik will certainly be won by the strongest riders.”
The Arctic Race of Norway is delighted to announce the renewal of its partnerships for the next three years with SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge as Official Partner and Telenor as Official Fan.
Initiated in 2013, the collaboration with SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge contributes to the development of cycling practice by young children. Since 2013, more than 11 000 children have participated in the SNN Mini Arctic Race all across Northern Norway.
Year after year, Telenor invests in the extension of the 4G network all over Northern Norway and therefore contributes to ensuring optimal conditions for TV production and for the spectators’ experience all along the route.

All the informations about Arctic Race of Norway on arctic-race.com/en/

International press contact
Fabrice Tiano
ftiano@aso.fr
+33 633 862 864
Norwegian press contact
Roger Solheim
rs@arctic-race.no
+47 992 26 638

„Vorarlberg Duo“ Geismayr und Amann weiter im Team Vorarlberg Santic – auch Meiler Brüder verlängern ihre Verträge


Mit dem amtierenden MTB Marathon Vize-Weltmeister Daniel Geismayr (29) aus Dornbirn, hat ein echter Vorarlberger seinen Vertrag verlängert und will dort weiterarbeiten wo er in den vergangenen beiden Jahren geackert hat. Die Ziele sind auf die Gesamtwertung der Österreich Rundfahrt ausgerichtet, wie auch bei einigen anderen Rundfahrten und Eintagesrennen. Vor allem wenn es in die langen und steilen Anstiege geht, sollte man Daniel auf der Rechnung haben.

Daniel Geismayr zur bevorstehenden Saison:
„Es taugt mir unheimlich wieder Teil dieses Teams 2019 zu sein und bin motivierter denn je zuvor um an meinen Zielen zu arbeiten, und die Leistungen die ich am MTB bringe auch bei großen Rennen auf der Straße umzusetzen und zu zeigen!“
Sein Landsmann und Team Youngster Dominik Amann (19) aus Hohenems bringt es selbst am besten auf den Punkt:
“Ich freue mich riesig ein weiteres Jahr in diesem professionellen Team zu sein, und hoffe dass ich mich als Athlet wieder einen Schritt weiterentwickeln kann.“

Oberammergauer Brüder Lukas und Martin Meiler wieder mit von der Partie!
Für Lukas Meiler (23) wird 2019 die bereits fünfte Saison im Team Vorarlberg sein. Der frühere Cross Spezialist ist technisch versiert wie kaum ein anderer im Team. Auch die Leistungskurve hat sich kontinuierlich nach oben orientiert und gesteigert. Und genau hier möchte Lukas im kommenden Jahr ansetzen – Verantwortung übernehmen, dann folgen die logischen Resultate und Erfolge!
In diese Kerbe schlägt auch der sprintfeste Bruder Martin Meiler (20). „Fürs kommende Jahr nehme ich mir vor mich weiter zu steigern. Vor allem im Sprintbereich möchte ich meine Qualitäten weiter entwickeln und das ein oder andere gute Ergebnis einfahren. Ich freue mich darauf von den anderen zu lernen und viele weitere Erfahrungen sammeln zu können!“

Kaden Groves sprints to final stage victory


Ilya Davidenok wins the seventh Tour of Fuzhou overall.

18th November, 2018 – Yongtai, Fujian, China: Australia’s Kaden Groves of Mitchelton-BikeExchange claimed Stage 5 of the 7th Tour of Fuzhou in a much anticipated sprint finish. He beat China’s Zhang Zheng who created another surprise for the Hengxiang Cycling Team and Jasper Frahm of the German national team after the peloton caught the 9-man breakaway that included Eritrea’s Yakob Debesay, the rider lying fourth on GC with a deficit of 52 seconds. Kazakhstani Ilya Davidenok of Beijing XDS-Innova is the Tour of Fuzhou’s overall winner in Yongtai, ahead of Benjamin Dyball of St George and Lyu Xianjing, also from the Hengxiang Cycling Team. The latter remains the big sensation of the 2018 edition of the year’s final professional bike race, worldwide.
Stage 5 winner Kaden Groves said: “I was quite disappointed with second on Stage 2. I knew I was coming here with good legs. This Tour of Fuzhou being my last race of the year, I couldn’t have asked for any more than winning the last stage. I got hung up on the bridge in a crash. Once I clipped in, my team-mate Sam Jenner did most of my pacemaking to move back up to the front. Coming out of a technical finish with 1km to go, with the fast downhill, at 350 metres to go, I had good legs so I overtook the Germans. I had a big chain ring on today for the downhill finish. I’m delighted to have made it.”
Overall winner Ilya Davidenok said: “I am very, very happy. This is my second win in my career. My team gave their maximum today to save my jersey. We caught the Eritrean rider number 92 [breakaway rider Yakob Debesay]. For my team, winning the Tour of Fuzhou is the maximum.”
Statistic of the day
With Kaden Groves winning Stage 5, Australia becomes the nation with the second most stage wins at the Tour of Fuzhou. Out of 27 stages contested up to date, Iran leads the tally with 5, Australia has 4 (Stage 1 with Scott Sunderland in 2015, Stage 3 with Groves and Stage 4 with Jai Hindley in 2017 before this one); the Czech Republic following with 3.
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.

Stage 4 of the 7th Tour of Fuzhou


Kononenko and Davidenok deliver for Beijing XDS

Top 3 overall confirmed at Da Yang Town.
17th November, 2018 – Da Yang, Fujian, China: The 2015 Ukrainian national champion Mykhaylo Kononenko of Beijing XDS-Innova claimed Stage 4 of the 7th Tour of Fuzhou after he rode away solo 4km before the unprecedented finish in Da Yang. He escaped from a group of 13 riders formed after a number of attacks in the 10km long false flat uphill leading to the final 10km of the stage. In turn, third placed Lyu Xianjing from Hengxiang Cycling Team and runner up Ben Dyball of St George tried to put the race leader Ilya Davidenok in difficulty but the Kazakhstani – who also rides for Beijing XDS-Innova – managed to hold on to the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage in Yongtai.
Stage 4 winner Mykhaylo Kononenko said: “I’m very happy with this victory. Our priority was to protect the yellow jersey of my companion [Ilya Davidenok] but once that was done, I saw a gap and I went for the stage win. This attack also helped me move from tenth to eighth on GC, so it’s a perfect day.”
Statistic of the day
The 2018 Tour of Fuzhou is the 27th stage race contested in China by Mykhaylo Kononenko since the 2007 Tour of Hainan. He won the Tour of Qinghai Lake overall in 2014 after Ilya Davidenok was disqualified. This is his second victory at the Tour of Fuzhou after Stage 1 in 2017.
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.

Ilya Davidenok takes the overall lead from Lyu Xianjing.


16th November, 2018 – Liang Jiang, Fujian, China: Dutchman Ivar Slik of the Monkey Town team was the third rider to claim his maiden pro victory in three days of racing at the 2018 Tour of Fuzhou, following the examples set by Chinese sensation Lyu Xianjing and Germany’s Leon Rohde. He gave it all for the stage win along with his two breakaway companions Ilya Davidenok of Beijing XDS-Innova and Ben Dyball of St-George who moved up to first and second places, respectively, on GC. Lyu bravely defended his overall lead in a rain soaked day in Liang Jiang but missed out on bringing the main group across by 15 seconds in the thrilling finale of a short but demanding stage.

Stage 3 winner Ivar Slik said: “I’m very happy to get a pro win here. I looked at the stage profiles before the Tour of Fuzhou and I thought this Friday’s stage was my chance. It was a hilly one but not too hilly. I took it a little bit easy yesterday and the day before to be able to go full gas today.
“I felt really good in the first climb. I reached the top in the first ten riders I think. In the descent, I got a gap with two strong competitors. We decided to ride full gas to the finish and see how far we’d come. We rode strongly on the flat with one minute lead at the bottom of the last climb. One guy [Ben Dyball] from the peloton came across and the third guy [Stanislau Bazhkou] of the early breakaway dropped, so we were three again. I was up there with two GC riders and I was not up on GC anymore so my goal was the stage win, and they did a good job for the GC. I could easily take the win in the sprint.”
Statistic of the day
Ivar Slik is the first Dutchman to win a stage at the Tour of Fuzhou. His compatriots Jasper Ockeloen and Peter Schulting, also riding for Monkey Town – previously known as Parkhotel Valkenburg – achieved the final podium in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.

Leon Rohde takes the fast track


German team pursuit specialist beats Australian sprinters in Qinjiang Manchu Village.

15th November, 2018 – Qinjiang Manchu Village, Fujian, China: Leon Rohde, 23, who is part of the German national team mostly for track meets, imposed himself for the first time in an international road race. His victory comes the day after the win for 20-year-old Chinese mountain biker Lyu Xianjing took his maiden road race victory on a hilltop finish. Today Rohde outsprinted Stage 2 favourite Kaden Groves of Mitchelton-BikeExchange in Qinjiang Manchu Village while the other Australian young gun, Toby Orchard (Australian Cycling Academy), went down. Lyu retained the overall lead after Hengxiang Cycling Team controlled the race all the way on the shores of the South China Sea.

Stage 2 winner Leon Rohde said: “It’s perfect for me. I had a hard season. I changed team and now I prepare mostly for track cycling. I’m at the peak of my shape now in the middle of the track season. I’m super fit and my team-mates are too. I got a very strong lead out. Because the roads were wide and the wind not too strong, we decided to wait as long as we could. A train of five guys was set in front of me with 2.5km to go. It worked well. We were so explosive that nobody could hold our wheels. At 200m to go, it was my time to open my sprint. I saw somebody coming on my right side but I got it just.”
Statistic of the day
Leon Rohde is the first German to cross the finishing line in first place on a stage at the Tour of Fuzhou since its inception in 2012. His compatriot Tino Thömel was eventually awarded the victory on Stage 3 in 2015 after the disqualification of Italy’s Mattia Gavazzi.
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.

Lyu Xianjing takes historic maiden victory


20-year-old Chinese mountain biker-turned-road-racer leads Tour of Fuzhou.

14th November, 2018 – Ku Liang, Fuzhou, China: Following his impressive fifth place overall in the Tour of Hainan, Lyu Xianjing of the Hengxiang Cycling Team – directed by China’s first ever WorldTour rider, Li Fuyu – took the first road race stage victory of his career. Lyu Xianjing outsprinted Kazakhstan’s Ilya Davidenok, Hanibal Tesfay of the Eritrean national team and Australia’s Ben Dyball atop the 10km long climb to Kuliang on Stage 1 of the 2018 Tour of Fuzhou. This is only the second international road race for the 20-year-old cross-country mountain bike specialist from the Yunnan province. He leads the Tour of Fuzhou by four seconds with four stages remaining.

After the finish, stage winner Lyu Xianjing said: “I’m very happy to win here today. My hard training and the experience I gained in my previous road race [the Tour of Hainan] have paid off. I had climbed to Kuliang before so I was confident in doing something good in this stage but I had no idea about the strength of my opponents. It was hard to evaluate the attacks of the other riders. I’m still new in the game. But today’s performance doesn’t mean I’ve reached the maximum of my capacities yet. I will continue to try and do my best in the next four stages.”

Statistic of the day
In seven editions and 23 stages of the Tour of Fuzhou contested so far, Lyu Xianjing is the second Chinese stage winner after Zhao Jingbiao, also from the Hengxiang team, who claimed Stage 3 to Jinzhou in 2016. Hong Kong’s Choi Ki Ho won the first edition overall and Stage 2 in 2012.
Statistic of the day
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.

Emerging Chinese stars set to shine in Fuzhou

Last UCI 2.1 race of 2018 ready to roll in China’s Fujian province.

13th November, 2018 – Yongtai, China: The 22 teams set to compete in the seventh Tour of Fuzhou have been presented in style at the Smiler Hotspring Hotel in Yongtai on the eve of the 5-day race running from 14 to 18 November.

Last year’s winner, the Australian Jai Hindley, moved on to the WorldTour and achieved a top-10 mountain top finish at the Vuelta a España with Team Sunweb, highlighting that the Tour of Fuzhou is a true climber’s affair. And although the iconic hill to Yunding doesn’t feature in this edition due to roadworks, Stage 1 to Ku Liang is set to make a difference ahead of the much anticipated Stage 4 to Da Nang Town.

A Chinese trio awaits the climbs: Lyu Xianjing, a 20-year-old mountain biker from Yunnan province, who was sensational at the recent Tour of Hainan, finishing fifth overall, and winning both the King of the Mountains and best Asian rider competitions. Born in Kazakhstan 24 years ago, Nazaerbieke Bieken is also a former mountain biker and a very promising rider for Mitchelton-BikeExchange, the team with which Hindley won in 2017. Last year’s runner-up, Fung Ka Hoo from Hong Kong, returns after having finished second at the UCI 2.2 Tour of Quanzhou Bay last week. He missed three months of the current season after he sustained a nasty crash at the Tour of Japan.

Ilya Davidenok and Mykhaylo Kononenko of Beijing XDS-Innova, Ben Dyball of St George, Freddy Ovett from Australian Cycling Academy, Minsk’s Stanislau Bazhkou and Roy Eefting of Memil-CCN are the other favourites, while sprinters Kaden Groves (Mitchelton-BikeExchange) who demonstrated his international form by winning Stage 3 of the Tour of Fuzhou last year, Dylan Kennett (St George), Toby Orchard (ACA), Shiki Kuroeda (Aisan), Kim Okcheol (Seoul) and Andrii Kulyk (Beijing XDS-Innova) will show their best on the flat stages.
The stages:

November 14, Stage 1: Ma Wei to Ku Liang, 107.4km (uphill finish)
November 15, Stage 2: Binjiang Binhai Rd to Qinjiang Manchu village, 115.7km (flat)
November 16, Stage 3: Liang Jiang county sports park, 97.1km (undulating)
November 17, Stage 4: Yong Tai to Da Nang Town, 126.8km (mountain finish)
November 18, Stage 5: Yong Tai circuit race, 129.6km (flat)
Copyright © 2018 SHIFT Active Media, All rights reserved.