Cort wins, but TDT-Unibet steals the show with 500 kilos of salmon won through hilarious bet

Magnus Cort Nielsen won the fourth and final stage of the Arctic Race of Norway on Wednesday evening. The Dane of Uno-X-Mobility had been among the frontrunners all week and finished in style with both stage and overall victory in his team's home country. Clément Champoussin finished second, both in the stage and the overall classification. TDT-Unibet impressed and stole the show with a hilarious bet involving race ambassador Thor Hushovd.

Uno-X had dominated the four-day stage race on the first and second days, with stage wins from Alexander Kristoff, but on the third day, the tide seemed to turn with an impressive solo victory by Kamiel Bonneu. However, the Belgian played no role on the final day, which featured an explosive stage from Glomfjord to Bodø with an uphill finish. It was a day for punchers, and Cort is certainly one of them.

"We were nervous with a strong breakaway, but with a lot of support, we managed to reel them in," Cort analyzed in the flash interview, now without his blue mustache from the Tour de France. "We believed I could go for the overall classification, but we weren't sure about the stage win. In the end, it worked out perfectly with a double victory, thanks to the incredible work of the team. It's unbelievable how strong we performed here."

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TDT-Unibet wins mountain classification... And a lot of salmon

On Wednesday, TDT-Unibet also looked back on four days of hard racing with a satisfied feeling. Jelle Johannink was without a doubt the trendsetter of the Dutch formation, by being in the breakaway in the first three days and thereby securing the mountain jersey. In addition to Johannink's splendid performance, TDT-Unibet also finished with Lander Loockx in eighth place in the general classification. The cyclist went into the final day as number six, but dropped two more places. However, that certainly didn't spoil the fun.

Indeed, the procontinental formation stole the show by making a bet with Hushovd. On Wednesday, Mountain king Johannink was awarded 500 kilos (!) of salmon as a prize, fortunately on a large voucher. It was a prize that had not been awarded in Norway for some time, but TDT-Unibet entered into a bet with Hushovd before the race: if we catch ten kilos of salmon in the river and win the mountain jersey, we get 500 kilos of salmon. And so it was...

Three guesses what Bas Tietema's team will be serving at all their summer barbecues...

Results stage 4 Arctic Race of Norway 2024

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