Race news
From Vuelta stage winner to half marathon standout: Leknessund impresses in Amsterdam Marathon
The Uno-X Mobility rider clocked 1:15:24 in Amsterdam after a demanding season featuring two Grand Tours, three Giro runner-up finishes and a breakthrough Vuelta victory.
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Andreas Leknessund has clocked an impressive 1:15:24 at the Amsterdam Half Marathon, just weeks after bringing his road cycling season to a close.
The 27-year-old Uno-X Mobility rider finished 47th out of 12,779 participants on Sunday, averaging 3:34 per kilometre over the 21.1-kilometre course.
The result comes at the end of a demanding season for the Norwegian, who competed in both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, represented his country at the World Championships in Montréal and continued racing through the Italian autumn classics.
Leknessund also showed little sign of fading in the closing kilometres. He reportedly ran a negative split, increasing his pace to between 3:20 and 3:30 per kilometre towards the finish.
Leknessund's running performance follows one of the most eventful seasons of his professional career.
At the Giro d'Italia in May, the Norwegian came agonisingly close to a stage victory on three occasions, finishing runner-up on stages 8, 13 and 17. He eventually finished 37th overall, but his aggressive riding regularly put him at the centre of the action.
His persistence was finally rewarded at the Vuelta a España.
On stage 7, Leknessund attacked his breakaway companions with 7.5 kilometres remaining on the final climb to Aramón Valdelinares, riding solo to his first Grand Tour stage victory.
The victory made Leknessund the first Norwegian to win a Vuelta stage since Thor Hushovd in 2010, adding another significant achievement to an already demanding campaign.
Leknessund is not the first cyclist to impress over the half marathon distance. Tom Dumoulin clocked 1:10:04 in Amsterdam in 2023, while former world time trial champion Tony Martin has also taken up running since retiring from professional cycling.
The difference is that both had already called time on their cycling careers. Leknessund, meanwhile, is still competing at the highest level, with his 1:15:24 coming just weeks after the end of a season in which he raced two Grand Tours and claimed his first Vuelta stage victory.
