IAM have announced their line-up for the Tour des Fjords.

"I race to win," Sondre Holst Enger explained. "And to be able to win at home in Norway would be fantastic.”

Though he seldom has the opportunity to race in his home country, Holst Enger is excited to be lining up for the 9th edition of the Tour des Fjords.

“My family will certainly be able to come and watch me race,” an excited Holst Enger exclaimed. “This will be the first time this year that I will have had the chance to race in Norway. I know the roads as well as I know the inside of my pocket. It’s always a special feeling to be able to race in this country.”

“The course is tailor-made for a punchy sprinter. In other words, it is perfect for Alexander Kristoff, but also for Sondre Holst Enger,” revealed Kjell Carlström, who will be a directeur sportif for the team in Norway along with Lionel Marie.  “Most of the difficulties are generally located far from the stage finishes. That means any of the climbs shouldn’t handicap the sprinters. For those sprint finishes, we will be protecting Sondre. This race is certainly an objective for him. And then we will have riders like Stef Clement, Matthias Brändle and even Marcel Aregger who will have carte blanche for a few of the stages.”

“Sondre already proved during the Tour de France and then most recently at the EuroEyes Cyclassic in Hamburg that he could certainly figure prominently in hotly contested bunch sprints. He is capable of rubbing shoulders with the best of them,” Carlström assured. And Holst Enger adds: “Beat Kristoff? I have always believed myself capable of doing it.”