Cycling: The ascent to the first mountain finish in the history of the Arctic Race of Norway measured almost 6 kilometers. At 132 kilometers, the third stage of the day after two days with a total of more than 400 kilometers was a welcome change for the drivers, although the way to Kvænangsfjellet might not have appealed to everyone in the end.
Belkin controlled the pace in the field until the start of the target climb. Thierry Hupond was the first driver to attack. However, his attack was countered a little later by Simon Spilak (Katusha). Behind him, overall leader Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Belkin) tried to hold the Slovenian's rear wheel. The same applied to Paul Voss (NetApp-Endura), who wanted to defend his sixth place overall.
With 3 kilometers to go, Spilak's lead was 11 seconds. Only Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin) was able to stay with him at this point. Other riders from the group around Nordhaug tried to jump forward. However, the resulting pace changes only meant that Spilak and Kruijswijk were able to extend their lead to 20 seconds by the last kilometer.
In the final, Kruijswijk initially took the lead before Spilak sprinted past him with a full start. Jonathan Hivert (Belkin) led Nordhaug's group to the finish, 16 seconds behind. As a result, he had to hand over his overall lead to his teammate Kruijswijk and fell back to second place overall. Third is now Davide Villella (Belkin).