While one part of the peloton is riding in the Giro d’Italia, several others are racing at other places around the world like for example the Tour of Norway, which takes place from 18 May 2016 until 22 May 2016. The sixth edition of this stage race, which is part of the Europe Tour, takes the riders over five stages through the south of Norway.

Lotto Soudal sports director Mario Aerts said:

“This is a very nice race which is held in a beautiful region. Also the roads are very good, not like the rough roads in Turkey. It’s a perfect race to maintain the condition with the later goals of the season in mind. Only three WorldTour teams will participate in Norway but it won’t be a walk in the park. Caja Rural for instance already proved in the Tour of Turkey that they’re able to put pressure on their competitors and that they can ride aggressively. We won’t underestimate the other teams, that’s for sure.”

The course of this stage race contains a variety of possible outcomes. The sprinters will get a few opportunities to show themselves, but also the climbers and attackers will have their chances during several stages. Finally, it’s also possible that a break stays ahead.

Mario Aerts said:

“The first stage will most likely end with a mass sprint. Stage two will be a very hard race as the final kilometre runs slightly uphill. Attempts will certainly be made on the final climb of the day, which is located at about twenty kilometres from the finish. The third stage ends with an uphill finish, this stage will be important for the general classification. The finish area of the fourth stage is situated at an airport and that’s a rather unique location. Just before they enter the airport, the riders need to climb a tough obstacle. If someone attacks there, it’s possible that this rider remains ahead. The final stage will offer another chance to the sprinters, although the final 500 metres are uphill. This will be a sprint for real powerhouses.

“Our roster consists of five riders. Only six riders per team are allowed anyway. That makes it hard to control the race and therefore the race will be more exciting. It’s a different type of racing but I like it though.

"We will try to obtain a stage win with Tosh Van der Sande as he finds a few stages which fit him well. Greg Henderson will pull the sprint for Tosh, normally he’s the lead-out of André Greipel in the Tour de France and this race will be used to obtain sprinting rhythm.

"Sander Armée will be our leader on GC. He already showed this season that he’s in great shape (Armée won the mountains classification in the Tour de Romandie, ed.) and he’ll get the chance to obtain a nice result. It will be important for him to be attentively at the front of the peloton during the second stage.

"Gert Dockx and Tomasz Marczynski can join a break for instance. But Marczynski can also aim for a good position on GC, it will depend on how the race evolves.”

Roster Lotto Soudal: 

Sander Armée, Gert Dockx, Greg Henderson, Tomasz Marczynski and Tosh Van der Sande.