Andreas Leknessund led home a Norwegian one-two on stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana, sealing a first stage win for his Uno-X Mobility team on their debut at the race.
Leknessund had been second on four different stages of the Giro d’Italia – three times in this year’s edition – but had never won a grand tour stage until today, with the 27-year-old appearing in his fifth three-week race and first Vuelta.
He spent all day in the breakaway on the hilly 149.8km run from Vall d’Alba before going solo with 6km remaining on the difficult final climb, the category-one Aramon Valdelinares, punching the air in delight as he crossed the line at the summit.
His win came a day after the death of Norway’s King Harald V, with Leknessund’s teammate and second-place finisher Tobias Halland Johannessen saying: “I’m super proud of how we rode, and he was super strong the whole day. Perfect day, also a special day with what’s happening back home in Norway, so we’re super proud.”
No Norwegian had won a stage of the Vuelta since former world champion Thor Hushovd in the 2010 edition.
Leknessund said: “It’s really hard to say, I didn’t expect it to be this emotional, but for sure there is so much feeling around this. I’ve been fighting really hard, it means a lot.
“Tobias came up, he gave me confidence we can win, I believed he was the best climber in the group. Maybe he was, I think, but we had ambition that one of us can have a gap on the last climb, he let my wheel go and basically gave me the win, and I’m really proud and grateful.
“It’s been a special day for the team and also for the whole of Norway. It’s a small thing in the bigger picture but still it makes the day more special.”
Leknessund is the first rider not named Tadej Pogacar or Matthew Brennan to win a stage of this Vuelta, with nearly a week of racing completed.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert, who also rode in the breakaway all day, finished third and amassed enough points to take the lead in the green jersey classification from overall race leader Pogacar.
Further back down the climb Pogacar accelerated to drop Felix Gall and Enric Mas, powering away from two of his closest challengers to add another 16 seconds to his lead over second-placed Mas in the overall standings. “We’re here to win and not fool around,” the six-time grand tour winner said afterwards.
The Spaniard now sits 3’50” behind Pogacar with four-time winner Primoz Roglic still in third, 4’50” off the pace.
Decathlon CMA CGM’s Felix Gall moved up to fourth, 11 seconds behind Roglic, while Britain’s Oscar Onley, who leads the best young riders’ classification, moved up to sixth despite losing another 30 seconds to Pogacar. The 24-year-old is now 6’06” behind the Slovenian.
