Søren Wærenskjold of Uno-X Mobility powered to a record breaking win in Nevers on Wednesday, at the end of stage 11 of the Tour de France.
It was the fastest road stage of the race ever recorded at 50.9kph – 0.6kph quicker than the previous best from 1999, which also finished in a sprint.
On a tricky run-in at the end of the 161.3km stage in central France, fancied riders like Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) were unable to live with the Norwegian when he opened his sprint.
Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), who won stage five last week, was second, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) third, after briefly being relegated for making contact with other riders, and then reinstated.
Both Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished mid-pack, at the same time as Wærenskjold.
"I thought I was too far back, but it opened up on the right side, which it usually doesn't do," Wærenskjold explained afterwards. "It was the same feeling as my first big win at Omloop Het Niewsblad, like I was too far back and suddenly at the front. It's unbelievable.
"It means everything, it's my biggest win so far," he added. "When I came here I knew there are two or three guys that are faster than me, but if I'm lucky and I have a good sprint like today, then it's possible. Sometimes I have really good confidence and I believe in myself, but there's many, many times when I am super tired, like it's impossible to win here."
The 26-year-old, who was second in Bordeaux behind Merlier on stage seven, called the win "crazy" in that he had only crashed the day before. He did not feel good at the start of the day, but the adrenaline carried him through the final, he said.
"We've had some quite highs and lows in this race," he said," so it's incredible to take this win. I just need to let it sink in, and then I will probably be more happy than I look now… it's a big surprise for myself."
On a day that was markedly cooler than many of the past week – even featuring a drop of rain at the start in Vichy – an early break formed almost immediately beyond the neutralised zone. A quartet of riders – Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies) – drew achingly slowly away from the peloton, eventually establishing itself as a fixture. And that fixture lasted almost the entire stage.
As on previous days, the break was only allowed a short leash, although this time it was the sprinters' teams rather than Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG keeping them reined in.
Alaphilippe was the first to drop, shortly after the 30km to go mark. The remaining trio continued on gallantly, but there are not many sprinting opportunities in this race, and the fastmen were determined to capitalise today. They were eventually caught with 5.5km remaining, after which a cagey phoney war broke out between the sprinters' teams. They held off until 2km remaining, at which point all hell broke loose and, eventually, Wærenskjold broke loose too.
Tour de France 2026, stage 11: Vichy > Nevers, 161.3km
1. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, in 3:10:06
2. Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM, "
3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech, "
4. Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis. "
5. Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto Intermarché, "
6. Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN, "
7. Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies, "
8. Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, "
9. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, "
10. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla, "
General classification after stage 11
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 39:25:08
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:36
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:06
4. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +4:22
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:35
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:44
7. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:08
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+5:45
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +6:34
10. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +11:49
