"The goal has always been to ride the Tour together" - Johannessen twins set out to leave mark at 2025 Tour de France

We've grown used to seeing the Yates twins at the Tour de France over the last decade, but in 2025 they'll be joined by another identical climbers. Whereas Tobias Johannessen has been a recognized force in the peloton since his overall victory at the 2021 Tour de l'Avenir, his twin Anders took a bit longer to convince managers at Uno-X Mobility that he deserves a spot at Grande Boucle too.

But after his overall victory at the Tour of Slovenia, there was no doubt that Anders Johannessen should be included in the 2025 selection: "It's been a dream for quite a few years. To finally be able to stand on the starting line here together, I think that will be special," Anders begins in a joint interview of the two twins ahead of Tour de France, conducted by the Norwegian TV 2.

"Our cycling career has been a joint project," Tobias continues. "And the goal, as we've ticked off more boxes, has been the Tour. And doing it together is the ultimate thing as twins. We're very 'close', so it's going to be really cool to share the biggest cycling experience together."

"One thing that is great is that we are both going to the Tour. It is tiring to be the twin who people think is Norway's worst cyclist, who is at home in Drøbak when it is the Tour de France down in France," says Anders and laughs. "It will be great to be in France with the "brutter" this summer."

For Tobias, it won't be a debut with two starts already under his belt. But since a stage victory has been evading the younger twin, both arrive to Lille with the same goal - to win first Tour de France stage.

And given that mountains will be reserved for top GC contenders such as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the two Norwegians will hunt breakaways. Then it could happen they run into each other in the front group. Are they prepared to handle such a scenario?

"I think we could make that decision pretty quickly. If Anders says he has cannon legs, and I feel a bit stubborn, then there is no doubt that the best thing is to go for Anders. So I think we should be able to solve it in a pretty nice way," says Tobias. "Then we could also sprint against each other, to see who's faster," adds Anders. "... and finish second and third," he concludes, laughing.