It’s been a pretty hectic first 6 months as a Conti rider for second-year U23 Halvor Dolven. The Norwegian raced to 6h on the final stage of the Tour of Antalya, helping teammate and fellow breakaway companion Adne Holter move up to 4th on GC, before then winning his first UCI race in France at Le Tour des 100 Communes.
Not too long after that, he received the shocking news that Uno-X would be closing their Dare Development team after the 2024 season, meaning Dolven is now, along with the rest of his teammates, on the hunt for a job for 2025.
I interviewed Halvor recently to get to know some more about him, and we discussed his strong start to the season, as well as some of the uncertainty facing his future.
“It has been a season full of learning. There is a big difference between racing in Norway and the races I have been doing this year. Everyone is on a higher level and every team has a plan they want to execute. I am also quite new to racing abroad. For example, when I did the Youngster Coast Challenge, I was in the front group, but I did not know the course, so I was not aware of De Moeren, so I was not in a good position and then got dropped. You learn stuff like this and then you are more prepared for the next race. There is also a big difference in the fight for positions, so this is also something I have had to improve on. Overall, my season started very well. I had a good race in Antalya with a sixth in the final stage. In my first race for the devo team, I managed to win, which was surprising. I felt my shape was good before Olympia’s Tour, but there I had a crash like many others, and had a light concussion. In Roubaix and Liege, my condition was not good enough to compete in the final after missing 10 days of training because of the concussion. Bretagne was better and we got Solhaug Hansen in fifth in GC.”
Coming from an alternative background, Dolven has a lot of strengths, and goes well on the short, steep climbs. But he has also identified some weaknesses that he is determined to work on in order to become a better rider overall too.
“I would say I am an allrounder. Last year was my first year fully training for cycling, before that I mostly did Nordic skiing. My background has been good for my capacity, so I am quite physically strong overall. My biggest strength is the short hills. I have been strong on the Kemmelberg when we have raced it this year, also on the last stage of Bretagne which had a short cobbled climb. My biggest weakness is the sprint. I can do an okay sprint in training, but I struggle a bit with the combination of sprinting and positioning. For example, in Kattekoers I was one of the stronger riders on the climbs, but I did not contest the final sprint because I lacked confidence in competing. This is something I must work on to get more consistent results. To have a competent sprint is one of the most valuable assets as a rider.
We touched on his ride on the last day in Antalya, which was raced in completely opposite conditions to the ones found in France, where Halvor would quickly win his first UCI race after more good team tactics and a decisive final attack.
“The season started super well in Antalya. On the last stage we executed a fantastic race as a team. Me and Martin Solhaug Hansen destroyed the peloton on a longer climb. Then we started attacking with the whole team. I got away with Holter and he almost won the GC, it was a super nice experience in my first race. The next race was Tour des 100 communes. It was so cold and a lot of rain! I would not say I enjoy this weather, but I like it because I know other guys really hate it. In the final we were 7 guys and I had with me a teammate, Daniel Årnes. He is the oldest guy in the team and is a fantastic mentor for us younger riders. On top of that, he is probably the strongest continental rider that exist, he just unfortunately has not gotten the results to prove it yet. I was very, very cold in the final kilometres, my hands were actually so cold that I could not grab anything in my pockets. I did not eat enough so I felt I was bonking a little bit in the end of the race, in fact both me and Daniel got dropped on the final hill, but we managed to come back. In the final, me and Daniel started attacking and I made the winning move with about 1k left. I remember standing on the podium with the Lotto and QuickStep guys, all shaking because we were so cold.”
Dolven had no idea his team was going to be finishing at the end of the season, being taken by as much surprise as the general public. But he now sees his win in France as even more important, as a result like that could go a long way to securing a team for 2025.
“This was a complete surprise, and I did not know anything before the morning of the day the news broke. I can understand the team’s decision of trying to save money, but it is of course extremely unfortunate for us riders on the team. I am working on finding a team so that I can still be in a good place next year. I am now really happy that I suffered through the cold in 100 Communes because without that win, I would have been in a bad situation. Results like that matter a lot to get attention from teams.”
Setting goals beyond the Nationals is not quite possible for Dolven, as the Norwegian U23 team is not slated to do any races apart from the U23 Worlds in Switzerland due to a lack of funding. This calendar uncertainty has made setting objectives very difficult.
“It is a bit difficult to say because I do not know my race program after nationals. For sure the U23 nationals will be a big goal for our team. I am looking forward to a nice battle with Team Coop and the Norwegian Club riders. The level in Norway now is really good. The Norwegian federation struggles with the finances and at this moment, I don’t think the U23 national team will go to any other races than Worlds at the moment. It would be nice to race L’Avenir and Europeans, but it is what it is. Because of my rider type, I can at least try to compete on almost every terrain, so I will for sure try to make the most of the races I will do.”
Finally, we spoke about Halvor’s dream pro win. He selected a pro race, but also a well-known local Norwegian UCI race, as well as even playing a bit of fantasy, creating a race in Norway that I think we would all like to see one day in the future.
“In Norway, the Tour de France is on a whole different level compared to the other races. Just to be able to do it would be an absolute dream, even more to win a stage. I also would say I really want to win the Ringerike GP one day (Halvor was 10th last season and 20th this year, ed.). It is my favourite race, with a fantastic course. If Norway would get a WorldTour Classic, this would be the perfect race in my opinion.”
As Halvor says, he is still quite new to the sport, but the way he has ridden so far in his first Conti season, there is no doubt that the 20-year-old belongs at this level. The situation at Uno-X is really unfortunate, and I hope he can find a team to take him on for his last two U23 seasons and launch him to a pro contract.
U23 Cycling Zone wishes to thank Halvor for taking the time to answer my questions, and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season and beyond. You can also follow him on Instagram here.
U23 Cycling Zone 