Solid Teamwork at Arctic Race of Norway Finale

13 August 2017

Race: Arctic Race of Norway, stage 4

Start/Finish: Tromso/Tromso, Norway

Distance: 160 kilometers

TROMSO, NORWAY – Charles Planet put full effort into the final three laps on Sunday, spending the last of his energy to keep teammates at the front of the final stage of the Arctic Race of Norway.

Planet worked for David Lozano, who finished 15th on the day and 25th overall in the four-day stage race. The Spanish rider thanked Planet and Javier Megias both for their work to close the gap to the day’s breakaway and to ride at the front of the peloton for the final three circuits on the hilly island of Tromso, high above the Arctic Circle.

Team Novo Nordisk riders Joonas Henttala, Martijn Verschoor and Chris Williams all spent the long, windy part of the day out along the seacoast on a 130km loop of the larger Tromso peninsula, protecting Lozano, Megias and Planet for the finale. Brilliant sunshine and enthusiastic crowds greeted the riders throughout the stage, with thousands more fans lining the 13km circuit.

Dylan Teuns of Belgium won the stage and the bike race ahead of Loic Chetout of France and Michel Kreder of the Netherlands.

Team Novo Nordisk will continue racing at the end of August in the Tour of China I and II, and into September at the Tour of Denmark.

Charles Planet:

“I feel really good today, I still have a lot of power in my legs after so many hard stages, and my recovery is much better now. I really hope to show that in the results for future races.”

Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Massimo Podenzana:

“Very windy today, so to protect themselves the riders stayed together for the final circuits. We saw Katusha and BMC doing the work to bring the breakaway, and for the guys in front it was for the climbers jersey. Lozano top 15 is a great result, we had a successful Arctic Race of Norway.”