Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) won the queen stage of the Arctic Race of Norway on Saturday. On the steep climb to Manselv, 3.7 kilometers at 7.9 percent, he proved to have the most punch in his legs. Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) finished second and remains in the lead. New Zealander Strong (Israel-Premier Tech)
started the Saturday stage in the High North as leader, in which four home riders took the legs early. Morhen Wang Baksaas, Storm Ingebritsen, Georg Martinsen, and Sebastian Veslum got a five-minute lead from the big group, where Q36.5 took control of the race for leader Pidcock.
Frederik Frison was the man assigned that task and performed it well: single-handedly, he made sure that the peloton's deficit was reduced to a manageable distance. Meanwhile, on mostly flat roads, there
was plenty of room for the riders to enjoy the scenery. Read more below the photo!
Steep final climb partly decides stage race
So it was mainly a matter of waiting until the foot of the short but powerful final climb. To make things even more difficult, it started raining just before the climb. With a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, it was not much fun.
Dylan Teuns (Cofidis) also got a flat tire just before the final climb. A little later, the same thing happened to top favorite Pidcock, ten kilometers from the finish. Meanwhile, fellow favorite
Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) picked up a one-second time bonus at that point. The Kazakh team also took the lead at the foot of the final climb.
Scaroni attacked with 2.5 kilometers to go, but Q36.5 still had Milan Vader in support of Pidcock. Leader Strong also showed his strength, especially as Pidcock's attack took a long time to materialize. Just before the final kilometer, the Brit went for it, but the New Zealander followed.
In the two-man sprint, Pidcock went for it from far out, which proved to be just enough. Strong came alongside, but had to sit back down.
Results stage 3 Arctic Race of Norway 2025