Despite rise of Uno-X, Tour of Norway disappears from calendar in 2026 due to government cuts: 'Stupid decision'

Scandinavian cycling, and particularly Norwegian cycling, is booming. Uno-X Mobility has secured WorldTour status for the next three years, and with top riders like Tobias Halland Johannessen and Jonas Abrahamsen, the team is collecting major results. But not all is rosy in the north, as the Tour of Norway has now experienced first-hand.

The race has been a fixture on the calendar since 2011, with the exception of the COVID year 2020. With winners such as Remco Evenepoel, Alexander Kristoff, Wilco Kelderman and, in 2025, Matthew Brennan, it has consistently delivered a spectacular week of racing in northern Europe. But next season, the event will disappear.

The reason? The Norwegian government has imposed major budget cuts, leaving no money available for the Tour of Norway. According to the organisers, they were not consulted. Event director Roy Hegreberg only realised something was wrong when he noticed his beloved race was absent from the list of events receiving funding.

"We had a meeting at the office on Monday morning and we started to discuss, 'what do we do, what can we do' and quite fast we realised together with the board that there was no room to try to make a pro race in 2026." the Norwegian told Domestique. "They never said anything to us; they didn't say anything before, but through the media, some of the politicians said that this was a special contribution to the Tour of Norway and not common for annual contributions."

The hope now is to secure enough funding to bring back the Tour of Norway, one of the country’s two major professional races alongside the Arctic Race of Norway, in 2027. "We have a little bit of money to pay the bills here, but we need a couple of extra projects also for next year because we, of course, lose a lot of big partnership money from different municipalities and money from television," said Hegreberg.

"We will now use 2026 to build a solid foundation for the 2027 edition. I'm going to Oslo to have a meeting with some politicians, as they have contacted us because they see the stupid decision that was made here," Hegreberg continued. "I'm convinced that we will bring back the Tour of Norway, and I hope we can bring it back as an even better race, better foundation, better finances, and build for the future."