Corbin Strong leaves the Arctic Race of Norway with the overall victory, a stage win, two second places, and as winner of the youth and sprint classifications. Not a bad way to wrap up four days of racing for the Kiwi, who makes it 20 wins for Israel – Premier Tech this season.
Strong started the final stage, an eight-lap hilly circuit in Tromsø, with a six-second lead over Tom Pidcok (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and was put to the test from kilometer zero. Strong’s teammates hit the front of the peloton to control the race from the start, working tirelessly to control the breakaway of the day.
“It was an incredibly stressful day actually,” admits Strong. “I knew we would be under attack from kilometer zero but it exceeded my expectation, especially the few first laps in the rain. It was really stressful and with the wet descents as well, which I know is a strength of Pidcock, so I was really nervous for today and the first laps were even more out of control than I expected.
“My team was just incredible today. We were first, fourth, ninth, and 15th on GC coming into today, so we have an incredibly strong team here. Those boys just put it all on the line today and I owe this win to them because they were incredible and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
It was a day when every second would count. After Riley Sheehan took the maximum time bonus at the first intermediate sprint, Strong conceded a second to Pidcock in the second sprint to bring the gap down to five seconds.
Nick Schultz set a blistering pace in the last two laps at which point the peloton had been drastically reduced while Sheehan helped control attacks on the final lap and set Strong up in the final sprint.
Strong dug deep in the sprint and although he wasn’t able to come around Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), second place on the stage was enough to wrap up the General Classification victory, while Sheehan narrowly missed the podium in fourth overall.
Fresh off his maiden GC win at the Ethias Tour de Wallonie less than two weeks ago, it’s safe to say Strong has found career-best form and confidence heading into his goals in the second half of the season, doubling his win tally in the process.
“I knew in Wallonie I felt really good and strong on the climbs so I was quietly confident I could do a decent GC result here,” adds Strong. “I knew the four kilometer climb at eight percent [the stage 3 finish] would be really difficult against guys like Pidcock and Scaroni but I thought I could do a top-five or maybe a podium if I had a really good ride.
“But I exceeded my expectations yesterday and to take the GC win here, I’m really proud of myself. I didn’t expect to win so to be in the yellow jersey and finish it off today with my teammates is a really nice feeling. I’m really lucky to have teammates like I did this week.”
Sports Director Alex Cataford praised the team’s performance across the four-day race.
“We came in this week knowing Corbin was in super good form after his recent win in Wallonie and we came in backing him to do another good performance here,” says Cataford. “Our original goals were a stage win and top-three on the GC and Corbin knocked off the first goal on stage one which was amazing. The team rallied around him and then on the queen stage yesterday, Corbin produced one of the best climbing performances of his time with the team and really surprised us. With that, we were racing for the win.
“It was a very challenging last day but we had a really strong team around Corbin. We were able to control and neutralize the situations and come out of here with the win against some tough competition. It was also really good to see Riley Sheehan finish fourth, it’s nice to see him at the pointy end of the race. There’s not much else to say other than our guys rode superbly around a superb leader.”