Not even the Tour de France organisers had imagined a stage as fast as Wednesday’s. Assuming perfect conditions, and a quicker than usual pace, the earliest they thought stage 11 would arrive in Nevers was 17:31 local time, which they noted in the race’s road book. Any fans that turned up then, however, would have been 15 minutes late; Uno-X Mobility’s Søren Wærenskjold was already on the podium, and the team buses were packing up to leave.
In fairness, the organisers couldn’t have known stage 11 would be record-breaking. Sprinting across the line in a time of three hours, 10 minutes and six seconds, Wærenskjold earned the honour of winning the fastest ever road stage in the Tour de France’s 123-year history. His average speed was 50.91kph over the 161.3km. The previous record had stood for 26 years, set by sprinter Mario Cipollini on stage four in 1999 – an average speed of 50.36kph.
