The second stage of the Arctic Race of Norway 2026 speaks the language of home. The Norwegian sprinter from Uno-X Mobility Erlend Blikra imposed himself at the finish line of the Bø i Vesterålen-Andenes stage, who with an imperious sprint had the better of Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) and Giovanni Lonardi.

The Italian from Polti VisitMalta, who was successful yesterday at Myre, confirmed the leadership of both the points classification and the general classification with third place, which tomorrow, however, with the harsh uphill finish at Storheia, will take on a completely different complexion.

THE RACE

Despite the rain in the first kilometers, the stage immediately started at very high pace with continuous attacks and counterattacks that immediately pushed the hourly average to skyrocket. To see the breakaway of the day form, however, we had to wait 25 kilometers when, after the GPM of Ryggedals (won by Van Bekkum ahead of the "aurora borealis" jersey wearer Wang Baksaas), Victor Vercouille (Flanders-Baloise), Ludvik Holstad (Team Ringerike), Joseba Lopez (Caja Rural) and Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team) found the right moment to break away.

Behind them, in a second attempt, Herman Emil Eriksen (Lillehammer CK) tried to close the gap, who, after traveling several kilometers at a steady pace, finally managed to rejoin the quartet at 122 kilometers from the finish. In five then, once they tackled the GPM of Storvatnet (1st Evertsen-Hegreberg), they launched along the coasts of Vesterålen but the group did not give them space, conceding them at most two minutes. This meant that, as they approached Andenes, from behind they had an easy time controlling and then closing the gap 7 kilometers from the finish just before the sprint with bonuses won by Thomas Siva (XDS Astana) ahead of Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders Baloise).

The only lap of the circuit around the finish therefore served only to best prepare for the final sprint where, reading the evolution of the last hundreds of meters well, Blikra managed to prevail over Vernon, Lonardi, Pickrell and Foldager. For the Norwegian comes in this way a deeply felt victory (the fifth as a pro, the seventeenth counting also the .2 races) on the roads of home where, except for the national championships, he had not competed in a race at the highest levels since 2019.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Erlend Blikra (NOR/Uno-X Mobility) - 3:56:49

2. Ethan Vernon (GBR/NSN Cycling) - s.t.

3. Giovanni Lonardi (ITA/Polti-VisitMalta) - s.t.

4. Riley Pickrell (CAN/Modern Adventure) - s.t.

5. Anders Foldager (DAN/Jayco-AlUla) - s.t.

6. Jason Tesson (FRA/TotalEnergies) - s.t.

7. Lorrenzo Manzin (FRA/TotalEnergies) - s.t.

8. Nikiforos Arvanitou (GRE/XDS-Astana) - s.t.

9. Ronan Augé (FRA/Unibet Rose Rockets) - s.t.

10. Brody Mcdonald (USA/Modern Adventure) - s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Giovanni Lonardi (ITA/Polti-VisitMalta) - 8:01:58

2. Erlend Blikra (NOR/Uno-X Mobility) at 0:04

3. Teodor De Luca (SWE/Lucky Sport Cycling) at 0:06

4. Ethan Vernon (GBR/NSN Cycling) at 0:08

5. Jason Tesson (FRA/TotalEnergies) at 0:08

6. Guillermo Thomas Silva (URU/XDS-Astana) at 0:08

7. Riley Pickrell (CAN/Modern Adventure) at 0:10

8. Vincent Van Hemelen (BEL/Flanders-Baloise) at 0:10

9. Victor Vercouillie (BEL/Flanders-Baloise) at 0:10

10. Ludvik Holstad (NOR/Ringerike) at 0:12

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points classification: Giovanni Lonardi (ITA/Polti-VisitMalta)

Mountain classification: Morten Wang Baksaas (NOR/Lucky Sport Cycling Team)

Best young rider classification: Teodor De Luca (SWE/Lucky Sport Cycling Team)

Photo credit: ARN/Thomas Maheux