The Tour of Scandinavia, also known as Battle of the North, is the only stage race on the women’s World Tour calendar in Scandinavia. It began today August 23rd in the Norwegian village of Mysen and will finish on August 27th in Haderslev, Denmark.
AG insurance-Soudal Quick-Step takes on this race with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio’s ambition to achieve top ranking in the general classification. Ashleigh will be assisted through the stages by a number of strong young riders and will have Maaike Boogaard as road captain. Maud Rijnbeek and Ilse Pluimers will support Ashleigh in the flatter sections and bring their experience gained in the Giro Donne. Anya Louw is coming back very strong after a pelvic fracture and will mainly perform her tasks uphill. Julia Borgstrom rides a home race and will lead her teammates as best as she possibly can on the roads where her roots lie.
“Since there are no more international races on the women’s cycling calendar in Sweden, this race feels just like a home race. This multi-day race is a real mix with the climbing in Norway and the time trial in Denmark, which makes me really looking forward to this Battle of the North. Although the races are taking place in the north, there are still a lot of differences between Norway and Jylland (Denmark), so this will make this race even more interesting,” said Julia Borgström.
Anya is happy with her return after her fall in May. “It’s the first time since my crash in Morbihan that I’m back at the start together with the team, so I have really been looking forward to this moment. In recent months I have focused a lot on training and now I feel ready to race again and to help my teammates. Our goal is to support Ashleigh as best as possible and to achieve a good result in Scandinavia.”
Stage Schedule:
August 23: Mysen-Halden – 124.5 km
August 24: Eggedal-Norefjell – 150.5 km
August 25: -Larvik – 135 km
August 26: Herning – 16.5 km time trial
August 27: Middelfart-Haderslev – 144 km
