, also called ('The Great Trial of Strength'), is a long bicycle

cyclosportive A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term '' Gran Fondo'' is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and so ...

which starts in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

and finishes in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It was first held in 1967, initiated by

Erik Gjems-Onstad Erik-Ørn Gjems-Onstad, MBE (22 February 1922 – 18 November 2011) was a Norwegian resistance member, officer, lawyer, sports official, politician, author and anti-immigration activist. Gjems-Onstad joined the Norwegian resistance movement af ...

and has taken place since then in late June every year. In 2012 the record time was 12.51,02.

Den Lille Styrkeprøven

('The Little Trial of Strength', 'Lille' is Norwegian for 'little' but the name is also a word-play on ''Lille''hammer), which is , from

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

to Oslo, is also held at same time.

1997 recumbent ban controversy

In 1997, Bram Moens from the Netherlands rode his faired recumbent in the race, finishing at 13:46:08 – almost two hours ahead of the second rider, and setting a new course record. Bram Moens and his bike were cleared by the organizers to start, and recumbents had taken part many times before. Despite this, the record was not accepted by the organizers, and recumbent bicycles banned, both actions without claiming any rider misbehaviour.Norwegian HPV Club - Den store Styrkeprøven
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References

External links

Official site
Cycling in Norway Recurring sporting events established in 1967 {{Norway-sport-stub