Thomas Silva delivered a statement ride on the queen stage of the Arctic Race of Norway on Saturday, climbing clear on the brutal summit finish at Storheia to win stage 3 and seize the overall lead with one day remaining.
The XDS-Astana rider countered a late attack from Lennert van Eetvelt inside the final 400 metres of the race's hardest climb - a 3.5km ascent averaging 11.8 per cent that has earned the nickname of the Norwegian mini-Mont Ventoux - and rode clear to finish alone in Melbu. Van Eetvelt, the pre-stage favourite, launched with around 400 metres to go, initially taking Silva, Alessandro Pinarello and Robbe Dhondt with him. Pinarello and Dhondt could not hold the pace, but Silva tracked the Belgian closely enough to counter almost immediately and open a decisive gap.
Van Eetvelt crossed the line in second on the same time, while Pinarello took third nine seconds down, with Dhondt completing the top four.
The victory reshaped the general classification with a single stage left. Silva now leads Van Eetvelt by 10 seconds, with Pinarello third at 21 seconds.
Stage 3 took the peloton 146.5 kilometres from Stokmarknes over a figure-eight course to the summit finish, after two opening days for the sprinters. TotalEnergies were among the first to push the pace on the climb, while Team Picnic PostNL kept the pressure on through Bert Bolle, but the decisive selection came inside the final kilometre, as Wout Poels began to struggle and Fabio Christen was dropped on the steepest gradients.
The 13th edition of the world's northernmost road race concludes on Sunday with a hilly 190.5-kilometre stage from Sortland to Narvik, where Silva will defend a slender 10-second lead in the fight for the overall title.
Sources
- https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/racing/arctic-race-of-norway-thomas-silva-holds-off-lennert-van-eetvelt-on-steep-uphill-sprint-to-win-stage-3-and-takes-race-lead/
- https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/results-arctic-race-of-norway-2026-stage-3-guillermo-thomas-silva-seizes-yellow-with-stunning-queen-stage-victory-as-gc-battle-explodes-on-storheia
