Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team took responsibility of the chase during the opening stage of the Tour of Norway, and with no hesitation one of the race's main stars Remco Evenepoel has went on to take a strong win in Voss.
"I am very happy. It was quite cold and that always makes the race tough. What a way to come back. It feels good to be back," Evenepoel said in the post-race interview, after winning the opening hilltop finish of the Scandinavian race.
“It was quite steep. I didn't expect to feel so good on the first day, on such an explosive finish. I'm happy," he pointed out. In the final sprint he set off early on, and held off Tobias Johannessen to take his fifth win of the season.
During the last kilometers of the stage he had been on quite a complicated situation, having to take a nature break with less than 15 kilometers to the finish at a time the peloton was riding at high speed. “I had to pee urgently. I had to pee ten to fifteen times. I had to stop or my bladder would have burst. Was I afraid that my chances would be lost? No not at all. I knew there was some headwind and there was still a long way to get back between the cars," he pointed out.
It won't be an easy challenge to keep the race lead in the upcoming stages, however the Belgian has put himself in pole position for the overall win.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Relive @EvenepoelRemco's powerful acceleration in the closing meters of the #TourofNorway, which netted his fifth victory of the season and the leader's jersey!
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