NEVERS, France (AP) — Norwegian rider Soeren Waerenskjold attacked late and powered to victory in the fastest ever stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday while Tadej Pogačar protected his overall lead on the 11th day of racing.
Waerenskjold finished just ahead of Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen and a host of other riders in a sprint finish that seemed inevitable on the relatively short and flat 161.3-kilometer (100.2-mile) route from Vichy to Nevers
in central France.
Pogačar, who stretched his lead to more than 3½ minutes with his third stage win of this Tour on Tuesday, finished among a bunch of riders with his main challenger Jonas Vingegaard to maintain his advantage.
For the 26-year-old Waerenskjold, it was his first stage win, and no one seemed more surprised by it than himself.
“It means everything, it’s my biggest win so far and like I said when I came here, I knew that there are two or three guys that are faster than me but if I’m lucky and I have a good sprint like today then it’s possible,” he said.
Waerenskjold had called the race doctor for treatment on his right hand a day after the Uno-X Mobility rider crashed on the hilly stage to Le Lioran.
“Sometimes I have really good confidence and I believe in myself, but there’s many, many times where I feel super tired and like it’s impossible to win here," Waerenskjold said. "So yeah, it’s crazy that it happened today.”
With an average speed of 50.9 kph (31.6 mph), the riders set a record for a road stage on the Tour.
Mathieu van der Poel and Valentin Paret-Peintre attacked from the off and were reined in before four riders managed to get away – Julian Alaphilippe, Mathis Le Berre, Nelson Oliveira and Anthon Charmig.
They reached Moulins with 100 kilometers to go with a lead of 1 minute, 15 seconds from the peloton.
Alaphilippe fell behind when they reached the category 4 Côte de Billy-Chevannes, a 1.4-kilometer climb at 5%, leaving three leaders with a gap of 45 seconds going into the last 20 kilometers.
That gap shrank to 19 seconds with 10K remaining, the rest of the riders gathered ominously in a huge bunch just behind, and it was no surprise when the leaders were finally caught with 5.5K remaining.
The peloton slowed with the breakaways back on board as the riders positioned themselves among teammates for the looming final sprint.
Waerenskjold was quickest to react when it got going.
“I thought I was too far back and then it opened up on the right side like it usually doesn’t do, but it was a bit same feeling as my first big win in (Belgian race) Omloop het Nieuwsblad,” the Norwegian said. “That was also like I was too far back and suddenly I’m at the front, and then, yeah it’s unbelievable.”
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