Back on the beaten track
October 30 th 2024 - 12:00 [GMT + 1]
The route of the 2025 Arctic Race of Norway was unveiled today, Wednesday, 30 October 2024, in Harstad.
From Thursday, 7 to Sunday, 10 August 2025, the peloton will zigzag around the fjords on the coast of the Norwegian Sea, sculpted by nature over the ages.
The winner will be crowned at the end of a route designed in the fine tradition of the northernmost race on the cycling calendar, mixing sprinter-friendly courses on the seaboard with short but nasty walls tailored to puncheurs. Grey roads will be returning for the twelfth edition following their successful debut in 2024.
After the 2024 edition remained within the borders of Nordland, in and around Bodø, the 2025 Arctic Race of Norway will be returning further north to the county of Troms. Its four stages include all the staples of this race for the toughest of the tough.
The opening stage will take the peloton from Borkenes, part of Kvæfjord Municipality, to Harstad on a course that has "sprint finish" written all over it. Harstad will be hosting a stage finish for the fourth time, after 2013, 2015 and 2021. The finish line, situated on a false flat at the end of a 182 kilometre course, will put a smile on the face of the ambassador of the Arctic Race of Norway, Thor Hushovd, who prevailed there in 2013.
In stage 2, Tennevoll will be making its debut as a start town, but the riders already called there in 2015 and 2017. The first part of the course is on the challenging side. As soon as the flag goes down, the cyclists will get to grips with the Lapphaugen summit (7.6 km at 3.9%), which will serve as a launch pad for hard men to break away. They will get no respite, with the Gratangsbotn summit (5.5 km at 5%) coming right after that and turning the first 36 kilometres into a sufferfest. The victor will be crowned in Sørreisa after completing two laps of a 14 km final circuit featuring a 1.9 km grey road at 3%.
True-blue fans of the Arctic Race of Norway are bound to recognise the landscapes of stage 3. Husøy, a charming little peninsula in Senja Municipality, will set the scene for a start amid the fjords. The municipality already hosted the race in 2015 and 2021. The peloton will start climbing right off the bat (2.1 km at 9.3%). Riders who excel when the road bends towards the sky will clash all the way to the finish line, set up 182 km down the road in Målselv, where it will be perched at the top of a 3.7 km climb at 7.8%. So far, this summit has been the sole preserve of Ben Hermans, who triumphed when the race called there in 2015 and 2021. Last time, he went on to win the event outright.
The twelfth edition will draw to a close in Tromsø. Five laps of a circuit about 30 km long, for a total of 141 km, will turn the finale into a war of attrition, with eight climbs adding to the challenge. This sequence of difficulties will throw the race wide open and prove the old adage that fortune favours the bold. The short but hectic course means that the man in the midnight sun jersey will have his work cut out for him to keep his rivals at bay until the very finish.
Route of the 2025 Arctic Race of Norway:
Thursday, 7 August — stage 1: Borkenes (Kvæfjord) – Harstad, 182 km
Friday, 8 August — stage 2: Tennevoll (Lavangen) – Sørreissa (153 km)
Saturday, 9 August — stage 3: Husøy (Senja) – Målselv (Alpine Village) (182 km)
Sunday, 10 August — stage 4: Tromsø – Tromsø (141 km)
