Soren Waerenskjold wins fastest ever Tour de France stage

Uno-X Mobility's Norwegian rider Soren Waerenskjold cycles to the finish line to win the 11th stage between Vichy and Nevers in central France. Pic: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Getty

Soren Waerenskjold won the fastest ever stage of the Tour de France with a long-range sprint in Nevers.

The Norwegian followed an early move from Cees Bol inside the last few hundred metres of stage 11, getting several bike lengths ahead of the chasing pack and holding off the charge of Olav Kooij to claim his first career Tour win as Tadej Pogacar stayed safe in the yellow jersey.

Jasper Philipsen crossed the line third but was relegated for moving in the sprint, with Milan Fretin promoted to a podium finish.

The peloton completed the 161 kilometre stage from Vichy at an average speed of 50.9km per hour, comfortably beating the previous record for the fastest stage, set in 1999 when Mario Cipollini won a 194.5km stage into Blois at an average of 50.3kph.

It was only a second ever Tour stage win for the Uno-X Mobility team, who also had the yellow jersey on the shoulders of Torstein Traeen for two days in the opening week.

“It means everything, it’s my biggest win so far,” said Waerenskjold, who was second to Tim Merlier on stage seven into Bordeaux last week.

“Like I said when I came here, there are two or three guys here who are faster, but if I’m lucky and have a good sprint like today then it’s possible… “I just have to let it sink in and then I will probably be more happy than I look now, but it’s a big surprise for myself.” Waerenskjold had been well down in the pack on the final approach but spotted a gap along the barriers on the right as Bol launched early and, as others hesitated, he powered clear.

“I saw Cees Bol had a gap and I tried to sprint up to him and hold a little bit back to go from his wheel,” he added. “Then I saw there were 250 (metres) to go. I was just waiting for the same thing to happen when Merlier passed me, but it didn’t happen this time.” The high speeds came on an almost pan flat route through central France, some welcome relief after the fireworks of Bastille Day 24 hours earlier.

A powerful four-man break including former world champion Julian Alaphilippe went up the road early but were given little leeway by the sprint teams and that, coupled with favourable winds, ensured the pace was on almost all day.

There was no change at the top of the general classification where Pogacar, seeking a record-equalling fifth Tour title, leads by three minutes and 36 seconds from his rival Jonas Vingegaard, with Remco Evenepoel a further 30 seconds back in third place.