"It was the worst time of my life": Andre Drege's former manager recalls last year's tragic events

Norwegian continental team Coop-Repsol went through a horror last summer, but through hard work and collective efforts, they were able to turn the page and reward their long-term sponsor Coop with a fairy-tale victory of Storm Ingrebrigtsen at the home Tour of Norway in the company's last year as team's title sponsor.

"The proudest moment for sure was this victory of Storm in May," general manager Roy Hegreberg told Domestique. "It was emotional in many ways. I had tears in my eyes when I started talking about it now."

The powerful moment represented far more than just a race win. It was also a symbol of the team’s resilience in the aftermath of André Drege’s tragic death in a crash during the 2024 Tour of Austria. Suddenly, the young team had to deal with the loss of their star rider and a leader both on and off the bike.

Despite the unfortunate events, the collective sticked together and pulled through the hardest times together. The management understood well that the best they can do for their riders was to keep the group together. That's why the only transfer made ahead of 2025 was to sign Eirik Vang Aas. Not to fill in the shoes of Drege, but to meet UCI's rule of minimum of 10 riders.

"It was the worst time of my life," Hegreberg said of a tragedy that left the team questioning its future in the sport. "It was something I never believed I would stand in, be a part of. And then it happened. But I think we handled it in a good way. We managed to stand in it, standing together."

The breaking point came at the end of this May. Storm Ingebrigtsen joined the obligatory breakaway at the start of the first stage of Tour of Norway. However peloton underestimated the 20-year-old Norwegian who outwitted all WorldTour teams to take the biggest victory of his young career. As he crossed the finish line with finger pointed to the sky, a tear run down Hegreberg's cheek.

"There were so many emotions coming out that evening. Relieved, happy, proud that we have a team that really can fight with the big ones when everything goes our way," he said.

Together, the team moved on. Not entirely, but enough so that their talents could again start developing. And at the end of this year, three of Coop-Repsol's best talents move up to the professional ranks. The aforementioned jumps straight to WorldTour with Uno-X Mobility. Meanwhile his compatriots Karsten Larsen Feldmann and Eivind Broholt Fougner both strengthen the Unibet Rose Rockets.

"That’s probably what I’m most proud of, that we are standing here now. We are fighting here," said Hegreberg. "We managed to stand in the crisis we were in last year. So that’s something I’m very proud of being a part of and something that has defined our team."

Besides the three departures to pro-level, more massive changes lie ahead for the Norwegian team anyway. The arrival of new title sponsor, the Italian company Drali Milano means that the team's identity will be slightly more internation heading forward. And with new owner in the person of Alexander Kristoff, ambitions will be greater than ever.