Strand Hagenes wins concluding stage Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux
Per Strand Hagenes has finished the 25th edition of Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux with a stage victory. In the final stage to Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, the eighteen-year-old Norwegian stayed six seconds ahead of Tibor Del Grosso and Arthur Kluckers. Due to the victory and his third place in the time trial earlier in the day, Strand Hagenes finished the three-day stage race in second place in the final classification. In addition, the reigning world junior champion won the points and youth classification.
"We rode well at the beginning of the stage, until I crashed after fifteen kilometres", Strand Hagenes said. "After that, Colby Simmons and Jesse Kramer fortunately waited for me and were able to bring me back to the peloton. In the finale, I attacked full force and had the power to keep the rest behind me."
After the crash, sports director Robert Wagner was worried for a while. "It actually didn't look good when he got to the car. Fortunately, we got him on the bike and he continued riding."
"We knew his condition was good", the German sports director continued. "We were confident that Per was going to compete for the podium. He did a great job today and the team rode super strong. We were one of the youngest teams here, so this is a solid achievement."
The first win of the season for the Jumbo-Visma Development Team was Strand Hagenes' first win in the jersey of the Development Team, which he has been a part of since January 1, 2022.