Good and bad news are arriving from Norway, a land of one of the movements that in recent years has gained the most attention. Within a few hours, in fact, the two main road races included in the 2027 calendar, the Arctic Race of Norway and the Tour of Norway, found themselves dealing with diametrically opposite situations that, in a sense, reflect all the fragility of current cycling.

NEW RESOURCES FOR THE ARCTIC RACE

"What we must always try to do is evolve and innovate": with these words, pronounced last August to our microphones by Managing Director Tom Hogli, we had made you understand how the Arctic Race of Norway was an ambitious race animated by the will to improve more and more, year after year.

Well, in 2027 the professional stage race furthest north in the world will have the opportunity to turn this intention into reality by taking advantage of a budget allocated for the event by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development which, for its scale (well 15 million), for the format of the event (4 stages), and for the general difficulties in current cycling to find the necessary resources to keep races alive, represents a true and proper exception.

"The responsibility of coordinating government policy for the North has been transferred from the Ministry of Culture and Equality to mine. Therefore, the Arctic Race of Norway, like other events, falls within the competencies of our ministry, that of Local Government and Regional Development, and in next year's budget we will allocate 15 million for the race" confirmed minister Bjørnar Skjæran.

"The Arctic Race of Norway is not just a sporting event" declared instead the director of Innovation Norway Arctic Anne Berit Figenschau, supporting what for years the organizers and people involved in this race have been reiterating, namely that the ARN is a race intrinsically linked to the values and cultural specificities of the northernmost area of Norway.

"Culture plays a fundamental role in strengthening the sense of community, engagement and enthusiasm in our territories. For this reason, we hope to be able to continue growing the race in the years to come".

Certainly in 2027 the Scandinavian stage race, won this year by Thomas Silva ahead of Lennert Van Eetvelt and Alessandro Pinarello, thanks to this boost of liquidity will not only be able to consolidate itself as one of the most appreciated events in the circus by riders and insiders but also rise further in level by substantially giving new impetus to a growth path that, on the contrary, in various areas of Europe other races struggle even to imagine.

TOUR OF NORWAY IN AN INCREASINGLY DARK TUNNEL

An example, without going too far, is the Tour of Norway which, after seeing Matthew Brennan triumph in the men's race in 2025 and Mie Bjørndal Ottestad in the first edition of the women's race, this year suffered a hard blow by being cancelled due to lack of funds from the calendar.

A year later, seeing it reinserted in the ProSeries 2027 race program between May 27 and 30, it seemed that the problems had been resolved and instead, like a bolt from the blue, the organization announced that for the same reasons (the government has not allocated any budget for the event) next season as well, the second most important stage race on the road in the country risks seriously not taking place.

"Last year, the race lost state funding completely unexpectedly. Since then, we have spoken with politicians from all parties and many have called the funding cut an 'error'. Since the government has increased support for the Arctic Race of Norway, we had great hopes of regaining our funding, but in today's budget proposal, the Tour of Norway does not appear anywhere" reads the statement issued by the organizers who did not fail to emphasize the different type of treatment reserved for them by the government compared to the ARN.

"This is a hard blow for Norwegian cycling. While other major international events receive support, we are being sidelined for the second consecutive year. Being the only professional stage race in Scandinavia where men and women compete on equal terms, it is extremely disappointing to be ignored again" declared Tour of Norway CEO Roy Hegreberg.

"We offer the greatest stars of Norwegian cycling and the world elite a stage to showcase themselves right here, at home. This is particularly crucial for our women's race, which for us has been so important to develop alongside the men's race. Without support, we lose the opportunity to grow an international race of the highest level for women in Norway".

Race director Alexander Kristoff also tried to bring water to the Tour of Norway's mill by entrusting the hopes of saving the event to the political figures and institutions called upon in Norway to legislate on the allocation of budgets for sporting events.

"The budget proposal is not final. We ask Parliament to intervene, resolve the issue and ensure that international cycling races in Norway receive fair treatment. We have not given up the fight for what is a great celebration of two wheels both in cities and in rural areas and an opportunity for our best riders, women and men, to race at home and inspire young and old to use their bicycles more often" stated resolutely the winner of the 2014 Milan-San Remo, today fully involved in the ranks of a race whose future appears more precarious than ever.