Team News: Swift on the attack in Norway

Britain’s Connor Swift making the most of his time with Dimension Data with two breakaways in two days at the Arctic Tour of Norway

Team News: Swift on the attack in Norway

Britain’s Connor Swift making the most of his time with Dimension Data with two breakaways in two days at the Arctic Tour of Norway

The tunnel climb at the start of today’s stage was unreal! Definitely a experience I won’t forget. You are climbing 3km out of a tunnel at 7% full gas in the dark. It was crazy!

Stage 3 – Day in the break for Swift

Current British Champion and Team Dimension Data stagiaire, Connor Swift, featured in the break on stage 3 for our African team and showed his mettle on the World Tour stage. He was brought back to the peloton in the final 3km of racing. Jacques Janse van Rensburg was our best placed rider, finishing in 24th place.

Connor Swift- It was a tough day up the road! The tunnel climb at the start of today’s stage was unreal! Definitely a experience I won’t forget. You are climbing 3km out of a tunnel at 7% full gas in the dark. It was crazy! You come out of the tunnel and the outside air feels tropical compared to the cold air we had just been in even though it was only 12 degrees today. We thought the break would go there but Astana weren’t letting a big group go away.

The race was strung out with a lot of guys wanting to be in the break. The elastic finally snapped around 18km in on a climb and luckily I had managed to get in the move after covering a fair few groups that was coming and going. Once the breakaway was away everyone worked together and we were all rolling through well. It was nice to soak in a little bit of the scenery today too… Norway is a stunning place and I feel very privileged to be racing my bike here for Team Dimension Data.

Before the start of today’s stage we had a meeting and said the break may stay as Astana would want us to mop up bonus seconds and keep the GC the same. Coming into the last 40km, the break started to really push on as everyone was thinking we had a good chance to make it stick. We got onto the finishing circuit and the chase was really on. The peloton were taking chunks out of our lead. With a lap to go, 3 riders broke clear and I just didn’t have the legs to follow….

I attempted to get there on another rise but the two little kickers on the circuit took their toll on me unfortunately! Two guys from the peloton bridged across to me and I worked with them as best as I could to stay away but it wasn’t to be for me as the bunch caught us with 3km to go. Nonetheless, it was good to get up the road and show the National Jersey for Team Dimension Data. Hopefully we go again and make the break that sticks in the future!
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Stage 4 – Connor goes again!

The final stage of the Arctic Tour of Norway was won by Mathieu van der Poel (Corenden-Circus), bringing his total race wins to two. The overall classification was claimed by Sergei Chernetski (Astana). Sondre Holst Enger (Israel Cycling Academy) and Quentin Pacher (Vital Concept Club) rounded off the stage podium.

In another exciting day of racing, Connor Swift and Mekseb Debesay featured in the break for Team Dimension Data, which was established once the race left Kvalsund. Swift, after starring in the break yesterday, put in a brave fight to stay out in front till the final stretch of racing. Swift featured prominently in the race for Team Dimension Data, after joining us as a stagiaire for the remainder of the 2018 season and he finished 36th in the GC.

Connor Swift- I managed to get in the breakaway again today and this time I had Mekseb with me. Astana seemed happy, as the break didn’t have anyone from the GC. They could ride behind at a nice tempo. The break worked well together, with everyone pulling turns and working well. The gap went up quite a bit.

Approaching the final, there were too many riders trying to get away with doing a little as possible. That led to the breakaway not really sticking or having the momentum to go all the way. Nonetheless, we got on to the circuit with a couple of guys working really hard to make the move stay. With the lap and half to go, Gino asked me to pull some harder turns to try and set Mekseb up for the finish if the break was to stick. I rode as best as I could, and then I heard that Mekseb wasn’t there, so it was up to me to try and make something of the breakaway. I got caught with a kilometre to go, which is never nice. Hopefully next time, if it comes that close for the breakaway, it will be the third time lucky for me.

It was a good day out and the whole race has been fantastic, riding for Dimension Data. Norway is a great place: the scenery, the food, everything is amazing. The staff and riders have also been very welcoming. It has been a great experience, riding for the team.

See more on the Team Dimension Data website here