Written by Yuri of Yuri SuperTeam
  
  Preview Norway Tour
  
  Harstad, Norway, day 27 and we’re back to the usual thrill around OCM Tours! And what a Tour this is expected to be! On Top Division we have the Germany Tour with its 10 Stages, on Zyte Division we have the Volta ao Porto with its 10 stages and here on the 3rd Division we have the Norway Tour with 9 Stages. In total length, it’s the 3rd biggest Tour in OCM with 1.221 km.
  
  1 Prologue, 3 sprint stages, 1 hilly stage, 3 climbing stages and 1 TT stage will once again be part of the route. Still, we expect stages 4, 7 and 8 (1 TT and 2 climbing stages) to bring the biggest impact on the final GC Standings. But how important were these stages on defining the GC winner in the past? Stage 4 winner ended up being the GC Winner for 9x (29% of all editions) with the past 2 editions being won by the final GC winner. Stage 7 is a different story. Being a TT stage is normal that the pure TTers get better times than the GC leaders. Here only for 2x the stage winner was also the final GC winner (editions 12 and 15). The final deciding stage, stage 8 is the one where we see more stage/GC winners. It happened for 13x (42% of all editions) with Alfred Vinkie on edition 28 being the last one to achieve it.
  
  On the 31 editions of the Tour there is no back-to-back GC winner. Still, Erik Williamson is the record holder with 3 GC wins in Norway (editions 2, 5 and 7). Hüsnü Dilmen is the other rider who won the Tour more than once. Will any rider join this very very short list this season? For that to happen, only Lennard Staal could do it being the only past winner (edition 23) present in the Tour.
  
  Now the question on everyone’s mind is? Who are the favorites for this season’s edition? Some might say it’s too soon to know since the Top Forms haven’t been revealed, but we decided to give it a try:
  
  Matrix team ( Lennard Staal) - *****
  Why not start with the only past winner present? He knows how to do it and has a very strong team backing him! His manager already admitted his intentions, so it’s up to Lennard to complete the job.
  V02maXXers ( Ulises Cuesta) - *****
  V02maXXers joins a Tour once again with

the only goal being to win it. Norway Tour might be one of the very few they didn’t won and boy they brought the team to do it! With so many stars on the team, they could go with Ulises, Calvino Gomiz, Johan Maerschlckx or even Heinrich Löwe. Still, we think Ulises will be the chosen one to lead the team.
  
  Cotopaxi ( Ciceron Guinassi) - ****
  Ciceron isn’t the most experienced rider around and neither is his team. Still, this journalist feels like he fits this Tour perfectly and having the right conditions (Top Form for example), Ciceron might be the biggest surprise of the Tour!
  BGK Cycling Team ( Calle Van Goolen) - ****
  Runner up last season, Calle is the best rider from last season present. His manager isn’t sure if he can carry a Top Form, but if he does, I’m not sure anyone can beat him.
  Team Seidel ( Michael Dale) - ****
  What’s most impressive here isn’t only the strong allrounder that Michael is, but the super strong team manager Jo Beer brought to the Tour backing him. Alongside with V02maXXers, this journalist thinks Team Seidel is the strongest rooster present. Give him Top Form and let him fight for the GC Top3.
  Goege Team ( Bimbo Wiggill) - ****
  Let me start with a warm salute to all “Single Nation” teams! Goege Team is once again a perfect example of a successful SN team and brings Bimbo to fight for the GC with a strong team behind him. His manager is trying to take the pressure of claiming he’s too young, but I think he’s ready to go for it! How high can he go? Till the top!
  Conero cycling team ( Dante Corbelan) - ****
  Dante is the 5th rider with 4 stars rank this season. This shows how tight this will be at the top! Dante’s advantage will be on the TTs being the strongest GC contender on that discipline. If he isn’t left behind during stages 4 and 5, it will be hard to see him not wearing the leader’s jersey after the 35 km TT stage.
  
  Icecat ( Warren Mealamu) -

***
  Warren is strong on the climbs and strong on the TTs for sure. His team is also good enough for the challenge, but Warren won’t be on his best form. Top9 GC is all he can aim at.
  Team Formand United ( Fresnel Kikunda) - ***
  Fresnel is on the exact same situation as Warren. Bring Top Form for the Tour guys!
  Peloton Pushers ( Kendrick Offutt) - ***
  Kendrick is on the same situation as the riders right above him and will also need to handle the youngster Crispin Schuck from inside the team. Will he be able to handle it all?
  Roderunners ( Francis Solberg) - ***
  Strong rider on the mountains who isn’t still TT centered neither is TF ready. Still, Francis impressed me with his climbing skills and his team is ready to back him up on the mountains. Top9 GC would be impressive, but possible for him!
  
  Szirmai Világos ( Novák Csaba) - **
  Another “Single Nation” Team brings the youngster Novák as leader. Great rider with a bright future ahead. Still, not being Top Form ready won’t help and his team isn’t strong enough yet to back him up. Top9 GC must be his dream, but probably he will only manage a couple of stage Top9.
  Belmonte Pro Cycling ( Torbjørn Øverland) - **
  Belmonte is yet another “Single Nation” Team with hopes on the GC Standings. Still, despite being TF ready, it’s hard to see Torbjørn and his team fighting for the Top positions. Team improvement needed here for the future!
  
  Team Belfius ( Hubert Rousseau) - *
  Go “Single Nation” Teams! Hubert will be exiting to see on the climbing stages but will be hard for him to fight for the GC.
  
  ArxhangiiliPoznyakax, Flanders Fields, Gewoon Rechtdoor, Lundar Cycling Team, Sasol Leeus, SST, The Laboratory, Time Indaiatuba and Welsh Phoenix didn’t bring a strong enough GC contender and are expected to be fighting for the SC of the TT stages.