The 2015 Arctic Race of Norway was a four-stage

cycling stage race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

that took place in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

between 13 and 16 August. It was the third edition of the

Arctic Race of Norway The Arctic Race of Norway is an annual multiple stage bicycle race held in northern Norway. The first edition was in 2013, from 8 August to 11 August, and lasted for four days. The organising partners are Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Arct ...

and is rated as a

2.HC The UCI 1.HC and UCI 2.HC were the second tier classification of road cycling races by the UCI, after the UCI World Tour (or its predecessor, the UCI ProTour). They are now replaced by the UCI ProSeries. The races were part of the various UCI Conti ...

event as part of the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and ove ...

. The race is the northernmost race in the 2015 men's cycling calendar. The champion of the 2014 edition was

Steven Kruijswijk Steven Kruijswijk (; born 7 June 1987) is a Dutch road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Kruijswijk is best known for his strong ability in the mountains where he has taken his greatest success; he has taken two professional victories ...

, though he was not present to defend his title. The race was won by

Rein Taaramäe Rein Taaramäe (born 24 April 1987) is an Estonian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team . Career Cofidis (2008–14) Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 20 ...

() on the final stage, ahead of

Silvan Dillier Silvan Dillier (born 3 August 1990) is a Swiss cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Amateur career Dillier was born in Baden, Switzerland. In 2008, he was the Swiss national junior time trial champion, Under-23 road champion i ...

() and

Ilnur Zakarin Ilnur Azatovich Zakarin (; born 15 September 1989) is a Russian former bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2012 to 2022. Career Early career and doping ban In 2007, as a 17-year-old, he won the juniors time trial ...

(), after the three riders broke away from the pack on the finishing circuit.

Alexander Kristoff Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . A sprinter and classics rider, Kristoff is the most successful Norwegian cyclist by number of wins, having taken alm ...

() won the first stage and the points classification, while the mountains classification was won by

August Jensen August Jensen (born 29 August 1991) is a Norwegian former cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2013 to 2023. Major results ;2012 : 1st Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 1st Stage 2 Tour of Jämtland ;2014 : 1st Mountai ...

(

Team Coop-Øster Hus A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

). BMC won the teams classification.

Race schedule

Teams

22 teams were invited to take part in the race. Seven of these were

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

s; 9 were

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

teams; five were

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

teams. Each team entered six riders, so the

peloton In a road Cycle sport, bicycle race, the peloton (, originally meaning ) is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting (racing), drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The ...

at the start of the race was made up of 126 riders.

Pre-race favourites

The principal stage in the general classification was expected to be the third stage, the summit finish in

Målselv Municipality Målselv () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moen, Troms, Moen. The main commercial centre of the municipality is the ...

. This stage was expected to favour the climbers, such as

(),

Louis Meintjes Louis Meintjes (born 21 February 1992) is a South African cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the South African National Road Race Championships in 2014, and has finished 8th overall in the Tour de France, on 3 occasions in 2016, 2017 ...

() and

(), who were therefore the favourites for the overall victory. The other stages were expected to be won by sprinters. Two of the prominent sprinters in the race were the Norwegians

() and

Edvald Boasson Hagen Edvald Boasson Hagen (born 17 May 1987) is a Norwegian former road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2024. He was ranked as no. 3 in the world by Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 y ...

(). Other sprinters present included Sam Bennett (),

Bryan Coquard Bryan Coquard (born 25 April 1992) is a French cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Since turning professional, Coquard has taken more than fifty victories in road racing, primarily in French races – including six stage wins and an overall v ...

() and

Niccolò Bonifazio Niccolò Bonifazio (born 9 October 1993) is an Italian retired cyclist, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . Career Early career Bonifazio was born in Cuneo. Bonifazio's professional career began in 2013 when he rode as a stagiaire for UCI WorldTeam ...

and

Davide Cimolai Davide Cimolai (born 13 August 1989) is an Italian professional road and track bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Born in Pordenone, Cimolai has competed as a professional since the 2010 season, competing for the tea ...

(both ).

Stages

Stage 1

13 August 2015 –

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

to Harstad,

Stage 2

14 August 2015 –

Evenskjer or is the administrative centre of Tjeldsund Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located along the Tjeldsundet strait about south of the town of Harstad. European route E10 passes just to the north of the village of Evenskjer ...

Setermoen Setermoen is the administrative centre of Bardu Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located along the Barduelva river, about east of the village of Sjøvegan and about south of Bardufoss. In 1999, the municipal council of ...

Stage 3

15 August 2015 – Finnsnes on

Senja or is an island in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway in northern Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the A ...

to Fjellandsby in Målselv,

Stage 4

16 August 2015 –

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

to Narvik,

Classifications

The race included four main classifications: the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

, the

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points c ...

, the

mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

and the youth classification. There was also an award for the most aggressive rider on each stage and a

team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...

Race schedule

Teams

Pre-race favourites

Stages

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Classifications

References

Sources

Notes

External links