Covi and Molano headline UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad for Tour of Norway

Packing both puncheur and sprinter talents alike, UAE Team Emirates-XRG head into the four-day Tour of Norway ready to race on the front foot. Beginning on Thursday, 29 May, the 14th Tour of Norway sandwiches two uphill finishes with a pair of stages that look suited to the fast men, promising an exciting four days of racing in Scandinavia.

This week will mark UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s first appearance at the Tour of Norway since 2021, a race that the Emirati squad won through Alexander Kristoff in 2019. That year, the home favourite won the penultimate stage and was supported in his endeavours by compatriot and teammate Vegard Stake Laengen. Six years on, the experienced Norwegian will return to race on home roads once again.

Laengen: “To race on home roads doesn’t happen so often, so I’m really looking forward to being here with the team and racing in front of friends and family.

“We have a strong group here and we’ll be looking to take some victories this week.”

Joining Laengen in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad will be the dangerous duo of Alessandro Covi and Jan Christen, both of whom have taken impressive victories in uphill finishes so far in 2025.

For Covi, after stage victories in both the Giro d’Abruzzo and the Vuelta Asturias, the recent Tour de Hongrie brought his first GC podium since 2021. Both the Italian and Christen – a stage winner at the Volta ao Algarve earlier this year – will be riders to watch on stages 2 and 3, when the puncheurs will likely contest the honours.

Also taking confidence from the Tour de Hongrie will be Sebastián Molano, who picked up a well-earned victory on the final stage. The Colombian sprinter showed his strength by surviving a series of tricky climbs before the finale, something that may come in handy when looking towards the Tour of Norway’s traditional curtain closer around Stavanger.

Also taking to the start for UAE Team Emirates-XRG will be Rui Oliveira and Mikkel Bjerg, with the latter making his return to racing after an impressive Classics campaign. The full UAE Team Emirates-XRG lineup for the Tour of Norway is as follows:
– Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
– Jan Christen (SUI)
– Alessandro Covi (Ita)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
– Sebastián Molano (Col)
– Rui Oliveira (Por)

Sports directors Tomas Gil (Ven) and Yousif Mirza (UAE) will manage the team in Scandinavia, where an intriguing four-day route awaits.

Beginning in Sola with a day that looks ripe for a sprint victory, this year’s Tour of Norway will kick into gear on stage 2, which will also prove the only day of racing over 200km. From Egersund to Oltedal, the peloton will tackle over 3,000m of climbing before the final uphill to the line. The last 1.1km climb averages 5.5% and will provide a first shakeout.

A day later, there will be a similar uphill finish in Heia, only this one will be significantly more difficult. Stretching out for 2.2km, the final climb on stage 3 averages 7.8% and will come after another day of up-and-down terrain.

Stage 4 will bring an end to the race on Sunday, 1 June, with 130km of racing in and around Stavanger on the menu. The peloton will climb the short but steep Grisabakken (0.3km at 12%) on six occasions, before heading downhill for the finish line.