Andreas Leknessund shows great legs on stage 15 as he successfully defends his position in the GC: "I’m looking forward to the third week"

Andreas Leknessund gave himself a nice birthday gift on stage 15, often called the "mini-Lombardia" after the monumental race, as he enters the third week of Giro d'Italia in 5th position in the GC.

Leknessund showed some brilliant racing and defended his position as several attacks pushed on in the group, reducing it down to 8 riders. Eventually, the group of favourites crossed the line together with no big shifts in the general classification taking place.

After the finish, Leknessund commented: “We had a nice finish of the second week of the Giro d’Italia today. I made it into the group of GC favourites but most of all I am super proud of how we are riding as a team, also considering that only sprint and classic guys are left. They were there for quite a long time to help me into the final and I think we are doing a really nice Giro d’Italia together and I’m looking forward to the third week!”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “The guys looked after Andreas really well today. When we came into the final and the pressure went on, Andreas was following the best guys which was really good to see. We go into the rest day in a nice position but we’ve got a huge last week coming up where everything can change so quickly. Now we have to recover good during the rest day and see how we will go on next week.”