Do you want to follow the race live and see the riders when they pass by?
Here you will find the hot spots and expected times for all stages.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig created even more Danish cycling fever with a fantastic victory on the third stage of the women’s Tour de France on Tuesday.
With a fantastic finish, she surprised everyone and sprinted down overall leader Marianne Vos in the uphill. Cecilie is now looking forward to the Tour of Scandinavia on home ground.
– It was a crappy day yesterday, but we fought back, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig said with her face full of tears in the finish town of Epernay after the 133.6 kilometers from Reims.
She was first driven off on an uphill, came back and found new strength in the final uphill sprint towards the finish. Cecilie is not normally a great sprinter and there were few who thought she could pass Marianne Vos, Ashleigh Moolman and the other top hubs who were part of the small front group.
– It is so great, especially in this jersey, says the winner and points to the “Dannebrogen jersey” with the large Danish flag that she wears as Danish champion of the year.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig is an emotional person, and also a big fan of the Tour of Scandinavia, and she will lead a strong FDJ team when they roll out from Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen on 9. August.
– It will be so “cool” to cycle the WorldTour on home ground, she has expressed several times.
The crappy day on the second stage was a nightmare for the FDJ team, which was involved in one overturn after another. The Danish champion also had to hit the asphalt and lost a minute and 38 seconds. At the same time, the team’s other captain Marta Cavalli had to break.
The former winner of the Ladies Tour of Norway, the wonderful Marianne Vos providefor it that Jumbo-Visma’s progress also continues in the Tour de France after the men’s edition. She won the second stage and was now second today. Thus, she continues in the yellow leader’s jersey when the ladies go out on several gravel sections on Wednesday’s fourth stage.
Uno-X is the first Norwegian team to participate in the Tour de France. Young Anne Dorthe Ysland is currently best in 22nd place with Mie Bjørndal Ottestad in 27th place.
Another surprise on the 3rd stage was that the pre-favourite and last year’s winner of LToN, Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar) lost 20 seconds. She struggles with stomach problems and has not been able to eat normally.
Read More
The Norwegian stars Katrine Aalerud (Movistar) and Emilie Moberg (Le Col-Wahoo) tested Wednesday the “queen stage” in this year’s Tour of Scandinavia, ie Saturday’s stage up to Norefjell.
This is the stage that is expected to be vital in the summary.
– I go for the podium here, says Katrine, who may get the chance to go for her own chances this time. Last year, her teammate Annemiek Van Vleuten settled the whole race with her victory on Norefjell.
The climbing-strong girl from Vestby in Norway has selected the stage on 13 August. Maybe 13 will be a lucky number for Katrine Aalerud who has been out for a while but is now in training again to come back in the top.
Emilie Moberg also hopes to have the opportunity to race this year’s Tour of Scandinavia. She was involved in an ugly crash during last year’s Paris-Roubaix, and has not made her season debut internationally this year.
But the Halden-girl, who has won the green jersey in former Ladies Tour of Norway, hopes for a “comeback”.
Both riders were well taken care of at the top by hotel director Sjur Aalvik at Norefjell Ski & Spa. He is also very much looking forward to again having the world’s best female cyclists for a visit this summer.
Read More
As one of the first major sporting events in Norway, Tour of Scandinavia was certified as an Eco-Lighthouse on Monday. This is also a milestone internationally as the event is the first women’s race to be environmentally certified.
Tour of Scandinavia (former Ladies Tour of Norway) is the only stage race at World Tour level in Scandinavia. The race will be ararranged in August 9 – 14 this year. The event has been extended by two days, and will for the first time run two stages outside Norway. The start on 9 August will be from Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen.
Extensive work
There has been extensive work throughout the winter and spring behind the certification process, a work we have done in collaboration with Viken County Municipality. By being innovative, we will take a position as a leading green event internationally with a special focus on reducing energy consumption in the arena and transport as well as source sorting.
– This has been an exciting and educational pilot project where the county municipality has assisted with environmental lighthouse certification for the race. The collaboration has given us valuable knowledge about green events. We will take this with us when we further develop our subsidy scheme for larger events in an even more sustainable direction, says county council leader Siv Henriette Jacobsen in Viken county municipality.
Ann-Kristin Ytreberg, CEO of the Eco-lighthouse foundation, also believes that certification of sports events is important:
– It is important that all of us will do our share if we want to create a more sustainable world. The fact that Tour of Scandinavia has now become Eco-lighthouse certified is a proof that the organizer has understood this. It will also contribute to visibility around environmental considerations in sports and have ripple effects beyond Norway since the event is part of an international Tour.
Unique concept
We also have a vision to create a unique concept that builds bridges between our three countries in terms of culture, sports, tourism, nature experiences and local atmosphere based on values such as:
- Sustainability
- Equality
- Quality
- Local involvement
- Volunteering
- Destination Marketing
The certification is an important milestone in this work and we will roll out many activities in connection with our ride in August, which in practice shows how we work in accordance with the environmental standard and the UN’s sustainability goals.
For further questions, please contact:
Anders Eia Linnestad
Race Manager
ael@eventrix.no / +47 900 68 423
Roy Moberg
CEO
roy@battlenor.eu / +47 906 49 339
Read More
Østfold Energi will be one of the main sponsors of the road race “Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of The North”, one of the world’s largest road races for women.
The parties have signed an agreement where Østfold Energi enters as one of four main sponsors and will be the owner of the green points jersey during this year’s race.
– Tour of Scandinavia, formerly Ladies Tour of Norway, has its origins and identity associated with Østfold. This will be a large cycling party in Østfold that puts the region on the map both nationally and internationally, says Oddmund Kroken, CEO of Østfold Energi.
– Tour of Scandinavia’s commitment to equality, sustainability and children- and youth activities related to cycling suits us very well and is something we would like to be a part of, says Kroken.
Unique focus with local anchoring
“Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of the North” has World Tour status and will be arrangedin Norway, Sweden and Denmark 9 – 14 August this year. Together with Tour de France and Giro Rosa, the Scandinavian race is the most prestigious stage race in the world of cycling for women.
The race is arranged as a stage race over six days starting in Copenhagen, with the next stage in Sweden before the four final stages are raced in Østfold and in Eastern Norway. The race visits Moss, Sarpsborg, Askim, Mysen and Halden, all of which are either start or finish cities for a stage during the Tour.
– We race across Østfold in three stages and will cover approximately 450 km in total through the region, says general manager of the race, Roy Moberg.
– Østfold Energi’s focus on sustainability and breadth activities are values that are very similar to our own values, says a satisfied race director Roy Moberg in Ladies Tour of Norway AS, which owns the rights to the Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of The North (BOTN).
– Tour of Scandinavia arranges, among other things, children’s rides and Green Summer Cycling School for children in all our host cities in Østfold through the event week. The event week starts with a family day in Kulåsparken in Sarpsborg on Saturday 6. August, and we are very happy to have Østfold Energi with us at this event as well, says Moberg.
– We have taken great steps out in the world since the start in 2014, but is still a locally based event where it is important to keep the identity and ownership locally. The fact that large and important local social actors such as Østfold Energi get involved through us means a lot to ensure local anchoring, says Moberg, who is looking forward to showing the region to the entire cycling-interested world in August.
10 million viewers
Tour of Scandinavia will have live TV coverage world wide with 2.5 hours of daily TV broadcasts.
In 2021, the forerunner of the race, the Ladies Tour of Norway, had over 10 million unique viewers globally. In Norway, the race is broadcast live on TV 2 and Eurosport.
As the main sponsor, Østfold Energi is marketed as the owner of the green points jersey, a classification jersey that many recognize from the Tour de France and which will be very visible on TV also through the Tour of Scandinavia’s stages.
Read More
The Launch Party for Tour of Scandinavia, which was arranged in the City Hall of Copenhagen in April was a great success. Due to practical reasons, many people were not able to join the party in Copenhagen. But they will now get a new opportunity, as we now have the pleasure to invite to
“Inspiration evening” in Brygga Culture House in Halden, 8. June from 17:30
Here will of course this year’s great cycling news in Scandinavia, Tour of Scandinavia – former Ladies Tour of Norway be in main focus. But there is also many other events arranged in Halden during this summer, and with this evening, we want to create an evening where we can inspire each other across different sports- and culture arrangements.
We have put together a wide and exciting program as follows:
How to create synergies through large events?
- Per Bergerud will share his experiences from World Championships in Vikersund and orienteering in Østfold
- Panel discussion with both local and national debaters
Equal Possibilities – focus on development of women’s terms within sports
The winner of the Norwegian Sponsor- and Event award 2022 in the class for Social Involvement share their expericences
-
Interview and opening by newly elected chairman of the board in Rosenborg Ballklub, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, who also has a backgroun as a former top athlete from both football and cycling, in addition to a senior executive job in Equinor
- Interview and panel discussion with both local and national profiled athletes and partners
Presentation of this summer’s event program and musical features
- Allsang på Grensen
- Opera Østfold – “The flying Dutchman”
- Fargespill Østfold
- Summer cycling school – Green Cycling
- Children’s races – Tour of Norway for Kids
The evening’s moderator will be Kjell-Erik Kristiansen, and the program will be finished around 20:00.
The arrangement is free and open for everybody who want’s a nice, informative and fun evening in the Culture House!
Arrangementet er gratis og åpent for alle som ønsker en hyggelig, informativ og ikke minst morsom kveld i Kultursalen!
PS! You don’t need to have entrance tickets, just be there from 17:30!
Read More
The Launch Party for Tour of Scandinavia was successfully performed in the beautiful and majestic city hall of Copenhagen the 26th. of April.
Together with almost 100 cycling friends and guests from all over Scandinavia, we were really proud of introducing the very first edition of Tour of Scandinavia with thorough information about its origin, stages and future vision. There was also present some famous riders from Denmark and Norway, and they told the audience about their thoughts and great expectations for the race.
We were also super happy to be able to release information about our new general sponsor Uno-X Mobility, and their Partnership Manager Magne Haugland could tell the following about the sponsorship:
– We are proud of the agreement with “Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of the North”. This will be a huge cycling party and an important step towards a WorldTour calendar for women on the same level as for men. Through our engagements in cycling, we want to inspire to more cycling for several purposes, it is at the heart of sustainable mobility. This race is an example of equality and sustainability in practice. We are really looking forward to it,
If you were not able to follow the event at our live stream, you will find a summary of the presentation of the stages here.
You will also find more pictures from the party at our Facebook page here.
Read More
Uno-X will be the general sponsor of the WorldTour cycling race “Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of The North” which will now be one of the world’s largest cycling races for women. The parties have signed a comprehensive agreement for 2022 and 2023, and with an option to extend.
Uno-X strengthens with this their great commitment to cycling. The company has realized Norway’s first professional team for men ever and has a professional team for women at the highest level, Women’s WorldTour, which is in its first season.
– We are proud of the agreement with “Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of the North”. This will be a huge cycling party and an important step towards a WorldTour calendar for women on the same level as for men. Through our engagements in cycling, we want to inspire to more cycling for severak purposes, it is at the heart of sustainable mobility. This race is an example of equality and sustainability in practice. We are really looking forward to it, says Magne Haugland, Commercial Partnership Manager in Uno-X Pro Cycling Team.
Unique commitment
“Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of the North” has WorldTour-status and will be arranged in Norway, Sweden and Denmark 9 – 14 August this year. Together with Tour de France and Giro Rosa, the Scandinavian race is one of the most prestigious in the women’s cycling world.
The race is arranged as a stage race over 6 days starting in Copenhagen, with the next stage in Sweden before the four final stages are cycled in Østfold and in Eastern Norway in Norway.
-The sponsorship is unique for women’s cycling in Scandinavia and in many ways marks an important milestone in the development of both the Tour of Scandinavia and women’s cycling in general. Uno-X is an innovative and energetic factor in the development of cycling in Scandinavia. Their focus on sustainability and equality are also values that are very similar to our own values, says a satisfied race director Roy Moberg in Ladies Tour of Norway AS, which owns the rights to the Tour of Scandinavia – Battle of The North (BOTN).
10 million viewers
Tour of Scandinavia will have live TV coverage world wide with 2,5 hours of daily TV broadcasting.
In 2021, the forerunner of the race, the Ladies Tour of Norway, had over 10 million unique viewers globally. In Norway, the race is to be broadcast live on TV 2 and Eurosport. As a general sponsor, Uno-X is marketed as the race’s most important partner with extensive profiling before and during the cycling festival, including on the race’s leader jersey.
Read More
The 26th. of April it is time for the Launch Party for our new WorldTour-race Tour of Scandinavia, and what will be better than hosting this party in the same city where the race will start in August – Copenhagen in Denmark!
The City hall of Copenhagen will be the place, and there is invited many representatives from both the host cities, sponsors, the cycling associations in the three countries and other cooperation parters to an afternoon in the name of cycling. And where the guests will get a proper insight in what to expect from the new and exciting WorldTour-race, which will have stages in all the three Scandinavian countries.
To ensure that all who is interested in following the event will be able to do it, the party will be live streamed directly on our YouTube-channel.
The streaming will start 17:00, and you will find the link below.
Read More
Tour of Scandinavia – the biggest cycling news in Scandinavia:
6 stages through 3 countries
– with the whole world´s elite
From the King’s Nytorv in Copenhagen via the beautiful west coast of Sweden to Norwegian mountains at Norefjell and flatland to the finish in Halden.
Nearly 1.000 kilometers, 6 stages in 6 days, the whole world´s elite riding, TV-coverage to the whole world and domestic professional teams.
Tour of Scandinavia (Battle of the North) is the big news for cycling fans in Scandinavia. The new World Tour-race on the 9th through the 14th of August will take over from the Ladies Tour of Norway.
Finally the time has come for the by far biggest cycle race for women in Scandinavia. All the best in the world are expected to be on the starting line in the center of Copenhagen for the first edition on August the 9th.
Historical race with wonderful nature
This is the first ever World Tour-race for ladies in Denmark and the interest is great in the country who have produced some of the world´s best female riders. The race is tightening the bands between the three countries.
– We can with this race present a fantastic nature and several interesting places in all the three countries, says general director Roy Moberg, one of the men behind this new race.
This is a continuation of the Ladies Tour of Norway who has been Norway´s only World Tour-race the last years. The new name of the race is Tour of Scandinavia.
– I know that we can offer an interesting race that has attracted a lot of interest among the riders. We have a lot of requests from different countries and the race can also be follow on TV throughout most of the world, says Moberg.
Name change
The intention was to launch the new race under the name Battle of The North, but the name has been temporarily changed to Tour of Scandinavia with the subtitle Battle of The North. The reason for this is the war in Ukraine which has changed the world situation since the planning of this race started.
– We have spent several years building the brand “Battle of The North”, and significant resources have been invested in advance of the launch, but we do not want to use a name that can be linked to war as the world now appears. In respect with everyone who suffers as a result of the terrible war in Ukraine, we so far brand the riding concept as “Tour of Scandinavia” and tone down the use of the name Battle of The North, says general director Roy Moberg.
From Copenhagen to Halden
The race is built on the experiences and the people from the Ladies Tour of Norway, but it starts from the King’s Nytorv in Copenhagen, Denmark with the first stage crossing back and forth northbound on the island Sjælland to the finish in Helsingør
This is followed by a longer transport to the beautiful island Orust north of Gothenburg in Sweden. The Swedish stage takes the peloton north to the border city Strömstad. It’s partly following the Swedish west coast, one of the most popular holiday areas in the country. The riders will go through some of the famous holiday resorts at the coast.
The region of Østfold is the home of the previous Ladies Tour of Norway and where the whole race started. This is also where most of the race will be held when the riders are entering Norway.
First from Moss to Sarpsborg through Son, Våler, the coast by Saltnes and Onsøy to the outskirts of Fredrikstad and finishing with three local laps and a well-known finishline in Sarpsborg.
Fridays stage is the so called ”Indre Østfold-stage”. Just like last year in the LToN the start will be in Askim and the finish in Mysen. The route is a bit different but the riders will cross back and forth between Askim, Trøgstad, Mysen, Skiptvet and Spydeberg. There is one final lap, identical with the one from last years LToN.
”The Queen Stage” is on Saturday August 13th. Very near the worlds biggest skiflying hill Vikersundsbakken. After one lap around Åmot and back to Vikersund the route goes through Simostranda, the home of Olympic biathlon hero Ole Einar Bjørndalen and north to the lake Krøderen. Following this on the north side to Noresund where the 10 km long climb to the finish at Norefjell Ski & Spa starts. This is probably where the race will be decided.
The final goes from the city of Lillestrøm just east of Oslo to Halden. First southbound from Fetsund along the lake Øyeren on road 22, furter southeast through Hemnes and Ørje before following the beautiful lakes at Haldenvassdraget to the finishing city where there as usual will be three final laps. These laps are technical and difficult and it’s expected a lot of drama and big crowds for the final in Halden.
TV-coverage all over the world
– We are very satisfied with the TV-coverage for the first edition of Tour of Scandinavia, says chief of media Kjell-Erik Kristiansen, who is also the announcer of the race.
– Eurosport and Discovery will transmit on several platforms to most of the world. You can follow the race on both terrestrial channels and on digital platforms. In Norway the main channel TV2 will also transmit life and with both TV2 and Eurosport we do cover the two main cycling channels in Norway, says the well known Olympic and World Championships announcer.
In Denmark and Sweden the situation is similar with 6 Eren Danmark and Kanal 9 in Sweden as the channels where you can tune in the Battle of The North. Every stage will be covered by a two hours life production and the quality of the production is of the highest level as we are used to from the Ladies Tour of Norway.
– But of course we do hope that as many people as possible will get out along the roads and make a big party of the race when all countries now have opened again after the pandemic, says Roy Moberg.
The world’s best are coming
Last year the Olympic TT-champion Annemiek van Vleuten from Movistar won the LToN with a final attack on the climb to Norefjell. Earlier editions have been dominated by the Dutch superstar Marianne Vos, Jumbo-Visma who has been the big star on the Norwegian roads.
This year the organizers hope that both Danish, Swedish and Norwegian ladies also will play a part in the Battle of The North.
Denmark has several top riders looking forward to the first edition. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, FDJ, Emma Norsgaard, Movistar and the former world champion Amalie Dideriksen, Trek-Segafredo are only some of the top names from Denmark.
Sweden is hoping that Emilia Fahlin, FDJ is back in top form. The former 4th at the Worlds loves to ride on home soil. Beside this Sweden has some other young, promising riders.
It’s also very exciting with the new Norwegian World Team Uno-X with riders from all the three countries. Together with Team Coop-Hitec Products they attract local interest. And of course there are also several Norwegian professionals in different international teams.
The organizer is also working on having the national teams from Denmark and Norway at the start. Totally the race will have 21 teams with 6 riders in each.
News at the internet
With the launch of the Tour of Scandinavia the organizers are also launching a new homepage for the race..
The social medias are very important for all races today, and therefore Tour of Scandinavia is also launching new accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
You will find the Tour of Scandinavia here:
Homepage: www.battleofthenorth.eu
Facebook: @battlenor.eu
Twitter: @battlenor
Instagram: @battlenor
PS! A launch with the exact routes, more info about the race and visit of some of the riders will take place in Copenhagen on Tuesday the 26th of April. More info about this will follow later, so follow our homepage for updates on this.