CHINA AND AUSTRALIA TO MEET UP IN THE NORTHERNMOST PRO BIKE RACE

Key points:
• Six UCI WorldTeams to take part in the ninth Arctic Race of Norway, 11-14 August 2022.
• Team BikeExchange-Jayco, China Glory Continental Cycling and Trinity Racing to line up for the first time.
The ninth Arctic Race of Norway will be held from 11 to 14 August 2022 on the same 4-day format as in previous years but for the first time below and not above the Arctic Circle. The event will welcome a well-balanced field of 19 teams, 10 of which will also take part in the 2022 Tour de France.

Accustomed to hosting the only African formation (Qhubeka) which has faded from the highest professional level, the race will be contested by teams from all other continents this time around: Oceania with the first ever participation of Team BikeExchange-Jayco, America with the return after a two-year hiatus of Human Powered Health that won a stage with Colin Joyce under the name of Rally Cycling in 2018, Asia with the brand new China Glory Continental Cycling Team, and of course Europe which keeps composing the majority of the peloton.

Two of the selected squads are from the hosting country: Coop that hasn’t missed a single edition of the ARN and won the mountains classification last year with Fredrik Dversenes, and Uno-X, the current talent factory of Norwegian cycling that developed the past two winners of the Tour de l’Avenir, Tobias Foss in 2019 and Tobias Halland Johannessen in 2021. Four UCI WorldTeams have famous Norwegians in their ranks: Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux (Alexander Kristoff and Sven-Erik Bystrøm), Team BikeExchange-Jayco (Amund Grøndahl Jansen), Team DSM (Andreas Leknessund and Jonas Iversby Hvideberg), as well as Israel-Premier Tech (Carl Fredrik Hagen).

August Jensen, a stage winner and second overall in 2017, first world class cyclist from northern Norway before the coming of age of Leknessund, is now with Human Powered Health along with Kristian Aasvold who came fifth overall in the 2021 Arctic Race of Norway. TotalEnergies features the inexhaustible Edvald Boasson Hagen who hasn’t said his last word on a bike yet.

Norwegian fans on the road side love their home favourites but the event equally attracts attention all over the world. It’ll be the seventh participation of Astana Qazaqstan Team that already bagged three overall classifications: with Rein Taaramäe in 2015, Sergei Chernetski in 2018 and Alexey Lutsenko in 2019.

“We appreciate the great loyalty of the teams who have regularly participated in the event and renowned runners like Warren Barguil also ask to come back”, commented technical director Yannick Talabardon. “There is something new this year with the BikeExchange-Jayco Team, the China Glory Continental Cycling Team, which represents a very big project for the world of cycling, and Trinity Racing, which should allow to discover new talents of international scope. It’ll make it a very interesting start list.”

The teams of the 2022 Arctic Race of Norway:

UCI WorldTeams (6)
Astana Qazaqstan Team
Cofidis
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
Team BikeExchange-Jayco
Team DSM
Israel-Premier Tech

UCI ProTeams (10)
Alpecin-Fenix
Team Arkea-Samsic
B&B Hotels-KTM
Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB
Burgos-BH
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Human Powered Health
Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
Uno X-Pro Cycling Team
TotalEnergies

Continental Teams (3)
Team Coop
China Glory Continental Cycling Team
Trinity Racing

The stages of the 2022 Arctic Race of Norway

Thursday 11 August, Stage 1: Mo I Rana – Mo I Rana (185 km)
Friday 12 August, Stage 2: Mosjøen – Brønnøysund (155 km)
Saturday 13 August, Stage 3: Namsos – Skallstuggu summit (180 km)
Sunday 14 August, Stage 4: Trondheim – Trondheim (160 km)

Find more information about the Arctic Race of Norway on arctic-race.com