Hagenes wins time trial in Olympia's Tour

Hagenes wins time trial in Olympia's Tour

Per Strand Hagenes has won the first stage of Olympia's Tour. The rider of the Jumbo-Visma Development Team was the fastest in a nine-kilometre individual time trial on the TT circuit in Assen. Thanks to this victory, Hagenes will start tomorrow in the yellow leader's jersey.

The opening stage of Olympia’s Tour took place on the TT circuit in Assen, where the riders had to complete two laps on wet roads. Hagenes was the last to start and knew he had set the winning time after ten minutes and 55 seconds. He finished one second ahead of Vlad van Mechelen.

"It's always nice to win", said Hagenes, who took his second victory of the season after the Tour of Drenthe a week and a half ago. "Given that I do well in short time trials, I felt there were opportunities today. But I'm not focused on time trials. That's why I didn't necessarily expect to win here."

Hagenes had opted to start last from the start ramp on purpose. "We had looked at the weather forecast, and it said it would stop raining later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Everyone ended up riding on a wet surface."

"I wanted to do everything I could to cross the line with a good feeling"

Per Strand Hagenes

For the 19-year-old Norwegian, winning the time trial was not a goal in itself. "I wanted to do everything I could to cross the line with a good feeling, and it worked. That I also won the time trial is a nice bonus.”

Hagenes said he is not concerned with winning the overall classification. "It would be nice to keep the jersey, but that is not the main goal. We want to win stages; it doesn't matter who in our team wins. The next few days will be hectic, so we have to see where we stand." This victory brings the total for the Jumbo-Visma Development Team to three in 2023.

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