Norway’s Andreas Leknessund (UNO X Mobility) took a memorable mountain victory on stage seven to the Aragon Valdelinares summit finish, netting his first Grand Tour stage win after four times being a runner-up in the past.
It was a fitting victory on a day of national mourning in Norway after the death of Harald V. This is UNO-X in the team’s debut at the Vuelta a Espana, with Tobias Halland Johannessen finishing second to make a memorable 1-2 finish. Both men had black armbands on in memory of the former king, with the stage starting after a minute’s silence in Vall d’Alba.
UNO-X is a rising power in professional cycling becoming one of cycling’s top teams, notably winning a stage of all three Grand Tours this season = with Leknessund’s triumph today adding to that of Frederick Dversnes at the Giro and Soren Waerenskjold at the Tour.
“It was such a special day, going from the start with Wout; we were going really hard, so fast, Tobias came up and it gave me confidence when he was there that we could win. I believe he was the best climber int he group, but we had ambition that one of us had a gap on the final climb, he let my wheel go and basically gave me the win - I’m really proud and grateful. I was there in the Grio, and it was really amazing, then the Tour, and now the Vuelta. It really shows how good of a team we are, and I’m super proud to be part of it.
A special day with what is happening back home in Norway so we are super proud.”
-Andreas Leknessund
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