The 2018 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 16 and 19 August. It was the sixth 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 ...

Race schedule

Teams

19 teams were invited to take part in the race. Five 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; 12 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; four 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 was allowed to enter six riders, three teams only entered five, therefore 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 123 riders.

Stages

Stage 1

16 August 2018 –

Vadsø Vadsø or Vadso may refer to: Places * Vadsø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vadsø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, tow ...

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

Stage 2

17 August 2018 – Tana to

Kjøllefjord , , or is the administrative centre of Lebesby Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern part of the Nordkinn Peninsula, on the shore of a small fjord which empties into the larger Laksefjorden. The vil ...

Stage 3

18 August 2018 –

Honningsvåg Honningsvåg is the northernmost cities and towns, northernmost city/town in mainland Norway. It is located in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county. Honningsvåg was declared a city in 1996, despite its small population. The town has a po ...

Hammerfest Hammerfest or Hámmárfeasta is a town/cityIn the Norwegian language, the word ''by'' can be translated as "town" or "city". that is also the administrative centre of Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the nor ...

Stage 4

19 August 2018 –

Kvalsund or is a village in Hammerfest Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It was formerly the administrative centre of the old Kvalsund Municipality which existed until 2020 when it merged with Hammerfest Municipality. The village is located o ...

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of US mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Association, ...

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 ...

Notes

External links

* {{Arctic Race of Norway Arctic Race of Norway