"It was not what we were aiming for this morning" - Thor Hushovd left speechless by Torstein Traeen's yellow dream
Cycling
It seems as though Torstein Traeen has cracked on how to get a Grand Tour leader's jersey to sit on his shoulders. Following a successful stint in red jersey at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, the 30-year-old Norwegian will have an opportunity to enjoy the maillot jeune at Tour de France.
Traeen jumped along with a breakaway of more than 30 riders where he was the best placed rider in general classification, sitting 24th at five minutes off Tadej Pogacar.
As the stage progressed, a 10-man group formed at the front where Traeen had only one task - keep an eye on Sean Quinn who was 28 seconds further in the standings. But Traeen kept calm, worked with Lidl-Trek to maintain the group's advantage, and secured perhaps the biggest moment of his career.
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Traeen is yet to win a Grand Tour stage - and it might not work out at this Tour de France either with a big yellow target painted on his back now, and with domestqiue duties for team leader Tobias Halland Johannessen down the road - but Tour de France yellow jersey may be just as good a success.
"It's hard for me to understand how important this result is," the new general classification leader declared immediately after the finish.
"You can see it in the faces of those around you, in the crowd, but for me at the moment it's still difficult to fully grasp. I'll have time to understand. The Tour is the most important race in the world, so I want to enjoy it."
Torstein Traeen in yellow jersey
It all started with...
Team manager Thor Hushovd was spotted by cameras, anxiously awaiting the finale of today's stage. After all, this is Uno-X's first ever yellow jersey at a Grand Tour - and it came through a rider who was at project's launch back in 2017!
"I'm emotional, and I still am, because it was not what we were aiming for this morning, you know? It kind of happens, but it happens when we race like this, when we are not afraid of going into breakaways, and we are offensive," Hushovd told the media at the finish," Hushovd said.
"Everybody also knows a lot of the steps we take as a team, step by step... not huge, but steps year by year… I'm a very proud man today."
Today is not the end
What's more, Traeen's stay in yellow jersey doesn't need to be short-lived. The Norwegian rider was gifted almost eight minutes of lead on the GC favourites, led by Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at 7:53.
In theory, Traeen could hold the lead without major problems until the mountain stages 14 or 15 next weekend. Stage 6 featuring Col du Tourmalet will be a major obstacle, but the stage could turn out to be race quite passively among favourites...
"Now we have the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. So it also shows that we can come from a small country and create a team from scratch. And if you do it right, then you have patience, and you do a good job over years and time, you can create athletes and riders like this."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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