The Viking strategy also triumphs in the Vuelta a España

Although Norwegian society’s support for the monarchy has waned in recent months due to family scandals — such as Queen Consort Mette-Marit’s relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or her son’s four-year prison sentence for rapes — polls indicate they still prefer it over a possible Republic, so the recent death of King Harald V from hemolytic anemia has plunged the country into sadness. “Although this is something small, it is a tribute to my king,” decided Andreas Leknessund, Uno-X rider, winner of a stage where the Viking strategy worked wonderfully — his teammate and team leader Johannessen finished second — as it also did this season in the Giro and the Tour, with wins by Dversnes in Italy and Wærenskjold in France. Behind, when he wanted, Pogacar also showed his class to the other contenders, a repeated display of superiority, this time closely followed by Gall and Mas, who maintain their strong bid for the podium.

Read more Despite the criticism, ICE will buy 6,000 gloves that produce electric shocks for its immigration offensive

UAE decided to grant the peloton a day off, an unusual leave given their temperament but understandable because fuel is not infinite, an open invitation to breakaways, good luck. And five raised their fingers as soon as the curtain rose, a quintet against the world. There was Van Aert, always competitive, naturally restless, a leader by conviction and merit; also Lutsenko, a rider with a rare instinct; and Johannessen, Uno-X team leader, another winner who had his teammate Leknessund alongside; plus Dunbar, winner of two stages in the Vuelta. An attack from the start that was rewarded in the end, not even bothered by the twenty riders who also broke away from the peloton, which was understandable since it was UAE’s day off.

Reaching the last climb, Aramón de Valdelinares, a ski resort in Teruel (9.8 kilometers with an average gradient of 5.9% and ramps up to 13%) sheltered by a blanket of pines, a mountain that from early morning welcomed many caravans making room on the roadside, picnic tables and chairs, awnings for naps, and jerseys to accompany the cyclists’ passage, also the most active painters leaving their mark and breath on the road, like that boy with a Zaragoza shirt who wrote: “No pain.” Of course, the annual Belgian roulette was not missing, the one that cheers its own with the flag of ¡Por tutatis!, very much in the style of Asterix and Obelix.

The youngsters, in any case, dominated the ascent and formed a huge traffic jam, cars mixed with thousands of cyclists who wanted to feel professional for a day, stops because the organization started (or finished) late setting up the structures near the finish, a real commotion. Nothing that bothered the cyclists, a red carpet to the top. And there, among flashes, Hollywood star himself, appeared Pogacar. Who else. A surge when he was left without teammates around him, a partial victory in his ambitions, redder than ever. But the 10 was taken by the Viking strategy.

Leknessund won because he launched in the last kilometers, a question to the rest about whether anyone was as strong as him. If the answer had been yes, Johannessen would have held back from behind, the best engine. But no one answered Luknessund and, for once, the Vuelta was not Slovenian territory but the Valhalla of Uno-X.

Read more Trump’s restrictions on mail-in voting get stuck in the courts