Waerenskjold takes record-speed Tour stage in Nevers sprint

Norway’s Soren Waerenskjold won stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, taking the biggest victory of his career in a record-fast day for the race. AFP reported that the 161-kilometre route from Vichy to Nevers was completed at an average of 50.91km/h, the fastest road stage across 113 editions of the Tour.

Waerenskjold, riding for Uno-X Mobility, opened his sprint early after a disrupted run-in left the main sprint teams unable to form an orderly lead-out. Dutch rider Olav Kooij, winner of stage five, finished second, while Belgium’s Milan Fretin was moved up to third after Jasper Philipsen was relegated, AFP reported.

“It means everything, it’s my biggest win so far,” Waerenskjold said, according to AFP. The 26-year-old had finished second on stage seven into Bordeaux and won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one-day race last year.

Waerenskjold said he knew several rivals had more pure speed but believed he could win if the finish broke his way. “Sometimes, I have really good confidence, and I believe in myself, but there’s many, many times where I feel super tired and it’s impossible to win here,” he said.

A fractured sprint finish

AFP reported that the final kilometres again lacked a clean sprint train from the teams aiming to deliver their fastest riders. Cees Bol, who was leading out Kooij, accelerated from the front as the contenders paused, and Waerenskjold reacted first.

The Norwegian quickly created a gap over the other sprinters. Kooij and Philipsen closed on him near the line, but neither passed him before the finish, according to AFP.

Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier, who had won stages seven and eight, placed 14th. Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay finished fifth and reduced Mads Pedersen’s advantage in the green jersey points competition to 43 points after the Danish rider came home 10th, AFP reported.

The result gave Uno-X Mobility another Tour stage win in its first season as a World Tour team. AFP reported that Jonas Abrahamsen had earned the Norwegian squad’s previous Tour stage victory last year, while Torstein Traeen wore the yellow jersey for two stages this year before leaving the race after a crash that caused a concussion and broken ribs.

Pogacar keeps overall lead

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar finished in the peloton and kept his overall lead of more than three and a half minutes over Jonas Vingegaard, a two-time former Tour winner, according to AFP.

Pogacar said the pace was high because the breakaway had a real chance of surviving and the sprint teams had to work hard to bring it back. He also pointed to the tailwind, saying the stage would have been much slower into a headwind, AFP reported.

A four-rider breakaway went clear early after the start in Vichy, but AFP reported that its margin never grew beyond one minute and 40 seconds. French rider Julian Alaphilippe, a former world champion and former yellow jersey holder, was dropped on a short climb with about 40km remaining.

Anthon Charmig, Mathis Le Berre and Nelson Oliveira continued together and still held 20 seconds with 10km left. Their move ended within the next four kilometres, setting up the sprint in Nevers that Waerenskjold won.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.