The Tour de France is the world’s biggest sporting event, and the circus rolls on towards Paris on 21 July. The Norwegian Uno-X Mobility team consists of six Norwegians and two Danes, and entered this year’s race with high ambitions after last year’s success, when Tobias Halland Johannessen finished an impressive sixth overall, the team placed eighth among all teams, and they claimed a stage victory. On Wednesday, it happened again: Søren Wærenskjold powered to victory in the bunch sprint to win Stage 11.
The victory attracted widespread attention, and on the Tour’s official website Søren Wærenskjold was dubbed “The New Duke of Nevers”. It was no gift: the day before, Wærenskjold had crashed heavily and crossed the finish line last on the stage, badly bruised. But these riders are not like ordinary people, and can endure more pain than most could imagine.
In addition to the Stage 11 victory, Uno-X rider Anton Charmig was named the “Most Combative Rider of the Stage” after spending a long day in the breakaway in the sweltering heat. The three-man break managed to stay clear until just over five kilometres remained.
So far, this year’s race has brought both highs and lows for Uno-X. Torstein Træen claimed the yellow leader’s jersey for the team, but lost it after a crash and is now out of the Tour. The team has recorded two second-place stage finishes, yet Tobias Halland Johannessen has lost time in the general classification. Uno-X’s principal objectives for the 2026 Tour are to fight for a top-five overall finish and to secure at least one stage victory. But on Thursday’s stage, both Wærenskjold and Abrahamsen crashed during the bunch sprint. There was blood.
Cycling is the only team sport in which individuals can cooperate across team boundaries in order to win. That creates remarkably exciting tactical and strategic situations, while at the same time the risk of crashes and injuries is extremely high. Unfortunately, it is no longer particularly exciting to see who will win the Tour: Tadej Pogačar, riding for the UAE Team Emirates, leads the race by 3 minutes and 36 seconds. That is a greater margin than the gap separating him from the next eight riders behind him combined. Nothing like it has been seen since the heavily doped Lance Armstrong dominated the race year after year and never seemed to have an off day.