"You get a little starstruck when you see them" - Jorgen Nordhagen describes meeting the Visma stars he one day hopes to overcome

Jorgen Nordhagen will turn professional next year with Visma | Lease a Bike. The multitalent who was a junior world champion in cross-country skiing last winter has made a full commitment to cycling and it's up to him to prove this was the correct decision.

The 19-year-old already looks forward to racing next to stars like Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert. But there's still time for that and Norhagen is aware he needs to earn the privilege to have his name appear next to the big leaders. "They are big stars, but things changed quickly," he says to TV 2 after having spent this season with Visma's DT. "You get a little 'starstruck' when you see them in races and in large settings. It's a completely different situation when you eat dinner or train with them."

Nordhagen adds: "I hope to be able to ride a few races with them, and learn as much as possible. I obviously want to match and take them on over time, but we are on the same team and must help each other."

Norwegian experts believe that the Scandinavian country has a future Grand Tout contender in Nordhagen, suggesting his time to take up Jonas Vingegaard's role at Tour will come one day. And Norhagen hopes for that too: "The Tour de France is the very, very biggest. Getting into that team would have been a lot of fun," Nordhagen tells TV 2. But he also realizes that it won't be easy the make the cut for the 'select eight'. "What you find out when you join these teams is that there are many factors at play. I obviously hope to fight for it in the long term"

"I really want to train and find out if I can assert myself, but we'll see. I don't think much about what might be possible. It is the road that must be the goal," replies Nordhagen politically correctly.