VIDEO: Emotional Andreas Leknessund breaks down in tears after taking overall lead of the Giro d'Italia following stage 4
Cycling
Team DSM's 23-year-old Norwegian Andreas Leknessund is the new overall leader of the Giro d'Italia, taking over from Remco Evenepoel after finishing second on stage 4 of the race.
After suffering some heartbreak in the weeks and months prior to the Giro d'Italia, Leknessund's trip to the podium for the Maglia Rosa means even more than it usually would. In the immediate aftermath of the stage a completely exhausted Leknessund broke down in tears.
After finding out his dream of leading a Grand Tour had come true, the 23-year-old was embraced by Team DSM staff members as all the emotion of the past few weeks poured out of Leknessund. Although Aurélien Paret-Peintre may have taken the stage win, Leknessund arguably took the bigger prize and now leads the general classification by 28 seconds from Evenepoel.
Check out Leknessund's initial reaction to the stage finish in the video below.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Davide11-11-2026 - some of lidl-treks retention and recruiting has been puzzling in the mens and womens teams.Davide11-11-2026
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𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 🙌 Andreas Leknessund is the first Norwegian in 42 years to lead the Giro d'Italia 🇳🇴 And after suffering the loss of someone close to him in the lead-up to the race, the emotions are 𝙧𝙖𝙬 😭 @andreaslek | @TeamDSM
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