News

In 2019, the Tour des Fjords and the Tour of Norway merged to create a stronger race, but in the end, and largely due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, only the 2019 and 2022 editions of the new Tour of Norway reached 6 stages. In the current edition, the race is once again reduced to 4 days of racing, which will still offer us the usual spectacular images of Scandinavian landscapes.

Route

The 2023 Tour of Norway starts with a 7-kilometer ITT that will already make a difference in the general classification, especially because the second half of it takes place on the climb to Mount Floyen (3.5 km at 8.7%). The second stage is the longest and toughest of the race and will undoubtedly be decisive for the final outcome, as it covers 206 kilometers and includes 4012 meters of climbing. The penultimate stage features an uphill finish in Stavanger (1 km at 5.5%), which possibly could be contested by the sprinters, while the final stage’s final circuit, with two climbs (0.6 km at 7.5% and 0.7 km at 6.1%), will select the group competing for the stage win.

Favorites

Ineos Grenadiers presents the strongest team in the race, with a lineup that includes Egan Bernal (1000), Magnus Sheffield (400), Lucas Plapp (400), and Ben Tulett (200), and the four of them can compete for the general classification. Other contenders for the orange leader's jersey are Tobias Halland Johannessen (400), Odd Christian Eiking (400), Kristian Aasvold (200), Attila Valter (400), Lucas Eriksson (200), and Gijs Leemreize (200).

For the finales of stages 3 and 4, resilient sprinters and classics specialists such as Alexander Kristoff (800), Jasper Stuyven (600), Mike Teunissen (600), Michael Valgren (200), Ide Schelling (400), Jordi Meeus (600), Alexander Kamp (200), Eduard Prades (200), and Rasmus Tiller (200) are some of the favorites for a stage win.

Photo: © Tour of Norway