"I fought for stage wins, but then it usually ended with Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard coming" - Uno-X star on breakaway suffocation at the Tour de France

At the 2024 Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar bagged himself a stunning six stage victories, with Jonas Vingegaard taking one. Although this brilliance was great viewing for the supporters, for those riders that rely on breakaways for success, things were somewhat suffocated.

One of those riders that attempted multiple breakaways escapades at the 2024 Tour de France, was Uno-X Mobility's Tobias Johannessen, finishing 11th on stage 15 and stage 20. "I'm very happy that I ended up doing the Tour in the end, which was the big goal. Even though the road to get there was quite bumpy," the 25-year-old Norwegian tells Max, noting an injury hit campaign this year. "I felt good, but Pogacar felt a little bit better," he adds with a wry smile.

As mentioned, Johannessen was active in the breakaways during the Grand Tour, getting himself in the mix for a first ever Tour de France success without any ultimate reward. A big reason for that, was the relentlessly attacking and aggressive racing from the likes of Pogacar behind as the Slovenian leader of UAE Team Emirates secured his third Maillot Jaune with six stage wins en route.

"In some of the breaks I was in, I fought for stage wins, but then it usually ended with Pogacar or Vingegaard coming from behind and taking those victories," Johannessen recalls with a tinge of disappointment. "So I'm left with the feeling that if I'd had a bit of a margin, it could have been really good. You'd look at it completely differently than you do now."

"It wasn't just me who didn't manage to take a stage win. He (Tadej Pogacar ed.) was just enormous," the Uno-X Mobility star concludes. "So we have a job to do over the winter, but I don't think it's impossible that if we get to the Tour next year we'll be able to take a stage win."