2010 photo collection from Sandra & Leendert
4-time viking Erlend (NOR) European transplant champion. Again !
Erlend Gjerde won time trial and mass start at the European transplant-and dialisys games in Dublin earlier this month. He was also the defending champion. Congratulations Erlend !
Sign up opens September 10th.
After the annual agonizing puzzle, we are nearing a final deciscion on which of all the nice places we will invade next summer. And as usual, sign-up opens early enough to plan holidays.
Ståle Hauges YouTube
Photos from Paul Ruijsenaars
Photos & blog from Philipp Winker.
Philipp sends his best regards to all vikings.
Daniel Wetzel photos.
Remember the smiling guy with the van and a serious-looking zoom lens ? Here are the results :-) and we thank Daniel for publishing !
Photos and greetings from Susanne & Marlene in Berlin.
Fabios blog from Viking Tour 2010. Photos in embedded link.
New photos at Norwegian site
Final results by class
Final results by time only
Final standings Sprint & KOM
Finns (10) report as member of the Viking Tour Crew (In German)
Einleitung
"Die Vikingtour ist ein einwöchiges Radrennen im Fjordland in Südnorwegen, eine tolle und wilde Landschaft mit Fjorden, hohen Bergen, riesigen Wasserfällen und vor allem vielen steilen Pässen..." 24.7 25.7 26.7 27.7 28/7 29/7 30/7 31/7
Route inspection done. Smiles all over.
Two days arund the whole 2010 route has revealed more fresh asphalt, perfect conditions on planet Osafjell and small pitoresque finishing towns ready for tough cyclists. Rjukan had 21 Celsius at 20:00 wednesday night, Crew is in place and indeed looking forward to meeting you.
Welcome Thomas and Leif !
First four crew members are in place in a sunny Rjukan and have mounted two Viking Tour beach flags in honour of our new friends from Skatval and Skedsmokorset. Welcome both !
Tuesday and Wednesday four we will inspect the whoel route and meet all people involved locally at the stage finishes. The great Internet willing, we will report at least once a day here, on FaceBook and Twitter. Best regards to you all from a very forward looking crew :-)
Live on FaceBook and Twitter !
Even pre-medieval vikings are going hi-tech and using social media for live updates. We hope this will reach even more users than last years specially made live page. Using Twitter: Search for username vikingtour. On FaceBook: Viking Tour.
Dittmar`s back - ride with the king!
Is it nerves that has made him sign up so late ? Has he been waiting for the weather forecast ?
No matter, we are very happy to welcome Dittmar back and look forward to lots of fun.
RoadBook PDF
Here you find an PDF version of the RoadBook that all riders receive in print with the starter package. The RoadBook is alsways made last minute to cover changes and adjustments, therefore it is not meant to receive a design award. For that we have the scenery.
Counting down
Crew members are underway to Rjukan to check the whole route and set things up, the 2010 Viking Tour jerseys have arrived and Ian is cycling like a true hero to make the bus from Gardermoen:
"Hope you are all well. Here's à quick progress report. We've now cycled over 2100km and have just over 1000 left to Nordkap. We're feeling fit and very strong and have been blessed with great weather and good winds all the way. We stopped and took the velodrome course in Falun and did some test times. Then we raced in the Swedish Veteran Championships, coming 7th in the pair TT. Today we saw our first reindeer on the road and tomorrow we'll be crossing the Arctic circle. I'm blogging every day, with pictures and we're soon up to 1000 unique visitors.
Take care, Iain
Meeting point Gardermoen
Viking Tour crew are in place with av big banner outside the arrival hall from 16:00, Friday July 23rd. Bus is expected to arrive at the Oslo central bus station next to the Oslo Plaza hotel app. 18:50. Contact phone for bus Friday 23rd. from 16:00: +47 93 09 52 51.
Map of Rjukan
Here and under Race & Info you now find a map of Rjukan with Valhalla, race office, parking etc.
UPDATED: "Clothes and more"
Some words on Norwegian weather and other tips.
Time Schedule.
Klick here or see Race & Info for the 2010 Viking Tour time schedule.
Welcome back Tone !
Tone Olafsson is gearing up for yet another Viking Tour. She comes all the way from Loma Linda
Follow Iains warm-up !
Iain Mackie is back to Viking Tour and with plenty of stamina. He cycles the whole length od Sweden to North Cape before flying to Oslo and the Viking Tour bus.Follow Iain here !
Finn (10) with Viking Tour school project.
Son of Viking Tour veteran Heikko Linnert (GER), Finn is granted leave from school to join the Viking Tour crew and participants this summer. He will be participating as crew member but chooses to sleep in the Valhalla camp because of the athmosphere. Finn will be writing about his experiences, so let us all behave well this summer :-)
Welcome Roger from Kvål !
Kvål near Trondheim sends its great son - recovering from injuries just in time for Viking Tour.
Latest viking face.
Lars Lindbøg (DK) just sent us a photo from his participation in Melfar 24hr Cycling Challenge, first weekend of June.
Welcome Hanne, Frank, Alexander and Lars !
Frank Slevikmoen is former overall winner.
Sten Ove is back.
Smiling guy from Oslo gives hope of decent Norwegian results in forest of invading Vikings :-)
Welcome to Alex from Berlin !
Ingvill & Magnes welcome to viking land :-)
Another thrilled welcome !
Credit to Øyvind from Eiksmarka, Norway for his
jersey collar nickname "Speedmonster." We love guts.
Gijs is coming too !
Another merry Dutchman on his way to Rjukan. Welcome !
Welcome Arno from Wormer, NL !
Stavanger
Welcome also to Ståle and Torgrim from Norways oiltown.
Welcome Piet from Huizen and Pieter from Otegem!
April 13th.: 39 / 15 places left in racing / touring.
Grigory and Pieter !
Grigory is joining us from Moscow and Pieter completes the line-up from Dutch Soest. Welcome, guys !
Breda boys complete.
We welcome Niels along for a great week of cycling and nature.
We welcome Coen from Soest and Erick from Cham !
The son of Maasmechelen
Veteran viking Peter could not help himself and will be coming back to Norway with his three motorbiking crew friends. Good luck with training and ride carefully.
Utrecht calling
Christa and Wina just signed up and went out training. Welcome, good Utrechtians !
Filling up
We welcome Kai-Uwe and Jens from Ottendorf, Thomas from Alpnach Dorf, Piet and Riny from Geleen and Håvard from Oslo.
Achtung !
We know of app. 20 former and new participants that are planning to sign up for 2010. If they all do so tomorrow, there would be just 35 racing places left. Norway has seen record amounts of snow this winter and we are all skiing for grim death. Ater easter, the roads will be free of snow and cycling hormones explode. You still have time, but keep an eye on the participants list...
Welcome.
Aleksander from Oslo, Xavier from Mechelen, Kim from Strømmen (NOR) and Klaus from Gleichen.
Recommendation, Geilo.
Here you find the offer from our partner Bardøla hotel.Bardøla is the alternative closest to Valhalla, start and finish and they have an excellent history of accomodating sports people.
Welcome also to Jacob from Copenhagen.
Smart Danes head north to climb.
Welcome !
Finn from Gentofte, Philipp from Berlin and Alexander from Geilo.
Jaques !
Jaques (71) is so far the oldest participant. He completed VT08 on a steel frame with ten gears.
3200 leaflets shipped.
900 of them were ordered by curious cyclists from all over Europe. 63 racing places left...
Vikings unite !
Welcome to Steinar from Hornindal (NO) and Johann from Kranenburg (DE).
65 slots left in the racing class !
Welcome to Morten, Jos and Sidsel who just made the list even nicer !
Another great Dane!
Welcome to Lasse from Copenhagen.
Revealed: Team Viking DK
Don`t be fooled by charming smiles. This photo of VT Team Viking DK is not taken in some flatland Danish camping hut, but at Passo di Gavia in Italy. In 2007 ! Three years of training should make the Fins and the Breda boys wonder :-) From left: Morten Wraa, Jacob Munter, Finn Jørgensen and Martin Kortegaard. Welcome, all !
Welcome Ole Martin from Gaupne.
The Norwegian 1992-vintage was the best in ages, so look out !
Welcome Svein and Morten!
Greetings to Gressvik and Oslo this time. -And hope of a photo:-)
Max !
Viking Tour grüsst Max aus Ludwigsburg herzlich willkommen in Rjukan!
Courage in Skien !
We welcome Tore from the charming Ibsentown, south of Rjukan.
Folder in print...
Even if Viking Tour seems to get sold out record early this year, we again kindly ask your help with distributing the printed folder. A big group of 2009 participants learned about the tour for the first time when finding a folder in the local cycling shop. Such good spirit prevents the Viking Tour becoming a sponsor circus.
So, if you have a friend who might be curious about VT in the future, if your local cycling shop or gym might put some on display or if you simply want one to read under the blanket, feel free to order some at info(a)vikingtour.no. We ship for free to any postal number on the planet.
Click here for electronic version.
Photos ?
Again we remind of our wish to put your smiles and grins on the "Viking faces" page. This is not mandatory, but take a look at the not-to serious shots already in and consider mailing us one of yourself.
More corageous vikings
Mette and Helge, Odd Arne, Christian, Martin and Randi have all rolled into the thrilling mist of challenges unknown. Welcome.
Vic and David returns !
We welcome the 2009 Nr.2 overall Vic and David back.
List of participants.
The automatic list is found here, and under "Viking faces."
More daring souls lining up.
Johnny and Ivan from Aalgard, five-time Viking Arshed, World transplant champion Erlend. All Norwegians and hopefully a pride to the tribe. Welcome !
TV-star and husband back to Viking Tour.
Ingvill and Magne chose Viking Tour for honeymoon in 2006 and are returning this summer. For those receiving Norwegian channel NRK, Ingvill is on tv every week in a docu-series from her school. To see Magne you really have to go to Rjukan. Welcome !
Welcome Berco from Breda, NL !
Danish vikings !
Trusting they come in peace and direct any biting jokes more towards Swedes than Norwegians, we welcome Per, Per, Peter and Dan from Nibe :-).
Welcome Bart and Maurice from Breda, Bart from Utrecht.
More smiling Dutchmen aiming for serious hills...
From Berlin:Philipp, from Göhren:Jana, Axel and Siegbert .
Welcome to Norway and Rjukan !
Greetings from Ulvik !
New-year always puts more speed to the event planning and we have had extensive contact with our partners in Ulvik. It seems the whole township is thrilled to be invaded by colourful cyclists from all of Europe and they asked us to relay their excitement. So best regards from Ulvik and keep sweating away your Christmas sins :-).
Welcome Rüdiger and Svein Joar !
Less than hundred racing slots left in January - will Viking Tour be full record early ?
New Norwegian viking.
We welcome Petter from Oslo.
We wish Maxim & company welcome back !
Another strong rider is aiming for treacherous Mt. Osafjell...
Places left: Touring 15, Racing 103, Valhalla 83.
Welcome Erica and Bjørn !
Worlds most beautiful: NOK 4890,-
The online signup system is back in mint condition. Sign up before February 1st.to get the lower price.
Welcome Pavel from Prague !
Welcome Frans from Utrecht and Anne-Berit & Einar from Fredrikstad !
Team Aaby Cycling to start in 2010 !
We welcome the promising boys of Prestfoss, Norway back also in 2010. Nils and Knut have signed with Aaby Cycling and hope to see the team strenghten further this spring.
Traveling: Recommended roads, map in place.
Some more info out under Race & Info
Welcome Paul from Utrecht !
Thank you for photos.
We ask all signed up to email a not-too-serious photo of themselves for the "Viking Faces" page. Like the Dutch here: Riding their special Christmas time spinning bike. Ton, Richard, Dick, Erick and Joost.
Welcome Richard, Coen, Ton and Bård !
Merry Christmas.
From Italy, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Norway the Viking Tour crew wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 2010, on and off the bike.
Welcome Øistein !
Fjellhamars strongest is ready for Rjukan and VT2010.
Fins with another cunning plan.
Last years team winner CC PICARO from Finland / Jyväskylä are planning to return for 2010. All members are not in place, but we assume they are not aiming for second place.
Transport ready Gardermoen - Oslo - Rjukan.
The Viking Tour bus will leave Gardermoen at 18:00 on Friday July 23rd. and stop for pick ups at the central bus station in Oslo app. 18:45- 19:00. From there we drive Drammen-Kongsberg-Rjukan. Separate vehicles transport your bikes. Return transport from Rjukan at 07:00 Saturday July 31th. Each direction will cost app. NOK 270 and available as online option from January 20th. You may purchase one or both directions as you please.
Christmas sign-up bonus !
The next handful to sign up receive one of the few remaining 2009-edition Viking Tour cycling jerseys and a box of sportsbars, containing 25 pcs.
We ship asap so you can have the goodies for Christmas. All sizes are available as of December 8th., but in very small numbers. The first to order shirt sizes XL or bigger even get one of the ltd. edition bib shorts thrown in (see right). Ho Ho !
Latest to join: Rob, Babette and Anthony (photo, right).
Welcome Elmar, Andreas, Anthony, Roger, Francisco and Kristian!
Welcome also to John from Bergen, Julia from München, Elisabeth and Klaus from Würzburg !
Welcome Rob !
Belgian invation for 2010. Will they handle this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKFPAjZmWo
MC-marshalls in place
As last summer the motorcyclists guarding us through mountains and fjords will be brought in from Belgium. Patrick, Patrick and Willy enjoyed the VT atmosphere and have arranged holidays from their fire fighter jobs to come to Norway. This ensures service with important experience from traffic control and cycling races. Belgian humor being a bonus. Now there is only veteran Swede Perra to wait for. (Left: Mona Lisa by Willy by Photographer Julian Steinhof, Team Agapedia.)
Your merry face
is wanted for the "Faces" page. Anything goes and Vikings don`t take themselves too seriously. Ten year old photos always do the trick and if you do not write a comment, we will. Spilks photo here leaves us speechless, though :-) Email adress found under "Press."
Rough map in place.
Under "Route" you`ll find a bigger version of the Viking Tour 2010 route map. More detailed versions of both maps and profiles will be in place before Christmas. Profiles will show detailed gradients for the critical stretches so you can plan your attacks...
Welcome also to Marlene, Susanne, Astrid, Ivo and Ingo !
Five Germans just signed up - seven nations are already listed for 2010 :-)
Jeroen just signed up !
Based in Switzerland, he`ll have great hill climbing conditions. Furka, Grimsel...
We welcome Swedes Thomas and Gunnar !
Welcome Grethe and the boys from CC Headwind: Spilk, Morten, Gunnar and Gunnar !
Per Arvid wins free place.
Just hours before the dead line, a correct guess on the last stage sends free place to Per Arvid Gimre, here with his brother Sigurd to the right. Both are signed up for VT2010.
We welcome Belgians Kitty, Dagmar and Ward !
Mt. Osafjell last stage.
A romantic evening out. 1200m.climb in 13km.
Last stage out on Oct. 8th.
The final 2010 stage to be released will come at 23:00 (CET) on Thursday October 8th. To win the free starting place you must guess the correct start, finish and route of this stage and mail it to us before we publish it. Tip: It is a rather hairy road race, run as a second stage of the day.
Welcome Odd Kåre, Per Arvid, Leif Håkon !
Joel, Arne heading for Rjukan.
The smiling and speedy two are joining the circus even in 2010. So are fellow Swedes Anne and Anders from Borås. Welcome, all four.
Welcome Marjolein and Kivit !
We are thrilled to see the Dutch and Belgian invation rolling on.
Start and finish in Rjukan !
Next years base camp is closer than ever, just three hours drive from Larvik, Sandefjord, Oslo etc. Squeezed in between Mt. Gaustatoppen and the Hardangervidda plateau, Rjukan offers no easy ways in or out for cyclists. Looking up from the tiny, township is downright scary for other than climbing experts. And there will be reason to show up early: Cable-car from centre to the top of Hardangervidda. Cable car inside (!) Gaustatoppen; see 1/6th of Norway in good weather. WW2 power plant where special forces put a stop to Hitlers nuclear bomb. 86m Bungyjump and a great swimming hall for such a small place.
See you next summer !
And you might get the starting fee back: The first signed up to guess the final stage gets a place for free.
Dirk-Michael is back :-)
Another 2009-viking is returning to enjoy the company and the Fjordland scenery next summer. We welcome Dirk-Michael and wish all the best with training through the winter.
Altitude profiles
Under "2010 route" you now find a new page "Profiles." Right click on each graphic, then "Open" to get the big picture.
Route inspection.
On Monday we start another trip around the 2010 route. We are meeting the local crews and recording the excact altitude data. Profiles are due here before October 1st.
New stage: Geilo - Aurland.
A big surprise to many of those guessing at next years route, the fourth stage already closes a full circle of stages around Hardangervidda and Sognefjorden. Now what !!? Sign up, be first to guess the remaining stages and have the place for free :-).
Xaviers Facebook album
Link: Photos from Agapedia.
More under "Coverage"
Another merry Belgian!
We welcome David from Sint-Truiden. Only three of eight stages are revealed and new vikings keep signing up. Some really like a thrill :-)
Welcome !
Ingvild and Jørn bring another merry viking from the southwest -Erling. Also Berit from near World famous Aalgard is back. Welcome to you all ! Ingvild is cracking brain cells trying to fogure out the route she just signed up for...New stage to be released soon. Free place to the first to guess all stage finishes and the road between them if not obvious.
.Aurland - Gaupne revealed
Three stages are published earlier:
Gaupne - Vik, Vik - Ulvik and Ulvik - Geilo. Details under "Route." First signed ups to guess whole route gets a new free start place or full refund of their fee.
Good news from Patrick.
He is recovering well after the accident this summer. There is even a new-bought roller in place so he can start training for next season. All the best for a continued recovery!
Together with Ulla and Lode, he is already listed for the 2010 tour.
Erlend World champion again.
3 time viking Erlend Gjerde defended his time trial title at the World transplant games in Australia last week. "A cruelly warm and dry experience for a Norwegian," he says. We congratulate !
Welcome Cosima & Olav.
2009 viking Cosima Curp and veteran Olav Tu Husveg latest signed ups.
Hans Inge first to guess at the 2010 route
5-time viking Hans Inge (NOR) has signed up and started to guess at the still secret 2010-route. First Norwegian and foreign signed ups to get the route right earns a free place. Guess once every 24 Hrs. Hansi`s next try is at 22:03CET Sunday...
Guess the 2010 route and earn a free ticket !
The route will be announced stage by stage, starting on August 21st. and with a bonus for signing up early. The signed up non-Norwegian rider who first guesses the complete route will have a free starting place to give away or have the already paid fee refunded. Each signed up rider can guess once every 24 Hours, starting when sign up opens. Frequent leaks will occur on Facebook, Twitter, Viking Tour homepage and of course cycling media.
A parallell competition is run among the Norwegian participants signing up.
Viking Tour 2010 starts on Saturday 24th. and ends on Friday July 30th. As always, a new route offers scenery, climbs and fjords and climbs never before visited by VT or any other event. For the first time, we run a full eight stages in one week. They are shorter than before and we have made every other day considerably easier so also the non-timed touring class may recover properly. The remaining stages make a hilarious line-up of vertical granite - the meanest we have yet put together. And definitely the greatest cycling challenge ever sported north of the Alps. Timing or not. Simply making it all through this route will be a monumental achievement.
"Worlds most beautiful cycling"
Sign up for 2011 from Sept.10th.
Iains Warm-Up blog
VT on FitForLife
2009 report from Agapedia
