For the first time ever, Norway has its own team in the Tour de France. They suffered injury on the first day but still have high hopes for the rest of the marathon cycling race.
The team, sponsored by the petrol station chain Uno-X, got off to a good start when the first 184.5-km stage began Saturday in Bilbao, Spain before the riders cross over the border to France on Monday. State broadcaster NRK reported how the Norwegians were up front for a long time, but 10 kilometers before the finish line, the twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates pulled ahead and finished first and second respectively.
Norway’s Tobias Halland Johannessen ended with the Norwegian team’s best finish, in 30th place and 33 seconds behind the winner. His teammate Torstein Træen fell midway through the first race, suffering an elbow fracture, but that wasn’t keeping Træen out of the rest of Tour de France. Træen started the second lap on Sunday, with doctors monitoring his progress. All the Norwegian riders finished far behind Sunday’s winner, Victor Lafay.
Norway’s team also includes Tour de France veterans Edvald Boasson Hagen and Alexander Kristoff, who’s serving as captain, plus with six others. The race ends in Paris on July 23.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
