Arctic Race of Norway: Thomas Silva holds off Lennert van Eetvelt on steep uphill sprint to win stage 3 and takes race lead

Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana) countered an attack by Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) in the final kilometre of the final climb up “Norwegian mini-Mont Ventoux”, Storheia, to win stage 3 of the Arctic Tour of Norway.

Crossing the line nine seconds later, Alessando Pinarello (NSN Cycling Team) took third.

A dwindling peloton caught the final breakaway rider with five kilometres to go. From there, Picnic-PostNL took over the pacemaking on the steep narrow road, while more riders were shelled.

Van Eetvelt, who had stayed in fourth wheel on the lower slopes, made his move with one kilometre to go, on the brutal 15% steep pitch. Silva and Pinarello covered the move, and then Silva came around to push the pace, getting a small gap. The Belgium chased but was not able to close the metres separating the two before the finish line.

"Now I stay really happy. It's a really hard final," Silva said.

"I take my pacing in the climb and wait the moment and attacking the crucial moment, if possible win today."

"The final tomorrow is more good for me, but now I try to conserve the GC."

The first summit finish delivered the expected shakeup on the general classification with Silva having 10 seconds on Van Eetvelt, and 21 seconds on Pinarello.

The world’s northernmost road cycling race concludes with hilly stage 10, 190.5 kilometres from Sortland to Narvik.

After two days for the sprinters, it was time for the puncheurs to shine on stage 3, a hilly 146.5 kilometres from Stokmarknes to the race’s hardest climb, Storheia. Called Norwegian mini-Mont Ventoux, the finish ascent is 3.5 kilometres averaging 11.8%. But before that, the riders had to face two climbs and the important intermediate sprint and its associated time bonus sprint on the figure-eight-shaped course of the Queen Stage.

The peloton, with the NSN Cycling team lined up at the front, paused for a minute of applause to honour NSN’s Finlay Starling after his tragic death during stage 8 at the Volta a Portugal before the racing got underway.

Immediately after the flag drop, on a chilly day, as the rain started to fall with temperatures of 13 °C, five riders pulled away from the front and had a 1:22 gap after 10 kilometres. The all-Scandinavian break included Erik Vang Aas (Drali-Repsol), Thomas Eriksen (Lillehammer CK), Aksel Laforce (Ringerike) and Lucky Sport’s duo of Morthen Wang Baksaas and Finnish road champion Axel Källberg.

The battle for mountain points raged in the break with Aas able to close his deficit to 1 point to KOM leader Baksaas in the two KOM climbs. Aas and Baksaas then dropped out of the break, leaving the other three to continue on.

Meanwhile, Modern Adventures mostly, Pinarello-Q36.5 and XDS-Astana and Modern Adventures, but not race leader Giovanni Lonardi’s team Polti VisitMalta, took turns at the front to keep the gap manageable, under the 2-minute mark.

With 44 kilometres to go, the trio off the front had 1:23 gap as the skies cleared up, and riders took their rain gear off.

The peloton, with Modern Adventure on the right-side and Pinarello-Q36.5 on the left, brought the gap to 45 seconds with 15 kilometres to go.

NSN took over the front with seven kilometres to go, as Källberg took a last ditch flyer, with a gap of 17 seconds, but he was caught two kilometres later.

Teams jostled for position at the front, as the steep narrow road shelled riders off the back with four kilometres to go. TotalEnergies and then Picnic-PostNL set the pace at the front heading towards the 15% ramp to start the final kilometre.

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