Van Hummel wins first stage of Arctic Race of Norway

Kenny van Hummel proved in the far north of Norway that he and his Vacansoleil-DCM team are far from having said their last word in professional cycling. With Barry Markus passing local favorite Thor Hushovd in the final bunch sprint, the Dutch team even scored an impressive 1-2 in Bodø.

"I've waited for a long time to get my first win this year," Van Hummel told Cyclingnews after the finish. "I'm glad it happened here and now. We understand that our team might disappear. I have some contacts for next year but nothing is signed yet. I'm glad to prove that we still ride well as a team despite our uncertain future."

With weather conditions changing extremely quickly in Nordland, the 119 starters of the first ever Arctic Race of Norway got a bit of a shock as rain and cold was on the menu of stage 1.

"We're not used to racing so far north and it's a bit of a climate change after the hot weather I recently experienced in Belgium," Van Hummel explained. "I was a bit surprised to see so many spectators on the road despite the cold."

Tailwinds generated a first hour of racing covered at 48kph. It was impossible for breakaways to be formed until the first intermediate sprint at kilometer 57. In Fauske, Hushovd showed his motivation by taking the first time bonus ahead of Mathias Friedemann of Champion System.

Hills at half way into the race inspired Belkin Pro Cycling. Their aggressive racing propelled eight men at the front with 70 kilometres to go: Lars-Petter Nordhaug and Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin), Marco Haller (Katusha), Angelo Tulik (Europcar), Nicolas Vogondy (Accent Jobs-Wanty), Stijn Neirinck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Sébastien Delfosse (Crelan-Euphony) and Filip Eidsheim (Øster Hus-Ridley).

"I felt pretty decent today and especially in the hills," Nordhaug commented. With 40km to go, his acceleration split the front group in two. Vanmarcke, Haller and Tulik went with him. The Norwegian continued solo 27km away from the finishing line and received the reinforcement of his teammate.

Within 20km to go, their advantage of 50 seconds gave them some hopes to succeed. "Especially when I realized how strong Sep was," Nordhaug described. "I had the feeling that if he'd continue riding at the same speed, we would only increase our lead over the field. He was a little tired like me but he rode insanely fast. I had a tough day because of the time I rode alone at the front but being with Sep, I understood why he was second at Paris-Roubaix."

The duo was eventually caught with 8km to go. Team Plussbank of the young teammates of Sondre Holst Enger led the charge but Argos-Shimano seemed to have the bunch sprint under control until Kenny van Hummel outsprinted everyone as he chose the right path on the left side of the road in the last 200 metres.

"The race was hard today and I was struggling a little bit," Van Hummel said. "But at the end, I managed to fight well for positioning. I was in competition with [Thor] Hushovd, it was a big challenge to beat him here as he was so motivated to win in his country. But I wanted to position myself behind the wheels of the Argos guys and I did. In the last 200 metres, I went full speed. It feels great to be a winner again."

Hushovd who eventually came fourth could feel the pressure of racing on home soil. "We had to work extremely hard today," the Norwegian champion commented. "We spent a lot of energy during this hard stage. I sprinted in the middle of others. I couldn't push more." The race ambassador has lost a battle but not given up his ambition of winning the first Arctic Race of Norway.