Hospital tears to Tour triumph: Abrahamsen's historic stage win

The word superhuman is a strong one, but it's certainly one which can be used to describe Jonas Abrahamsen. The 29-year-old Norwegian is renowned for his combative style of racing, but suffered a nasty crash on the opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour in June, which left him with a broken collarbone just 17 days before the Grand Depart in Lille on July 5. 

It was a minor miracle that Abrahamsen made the start of the Tour, so to claim victory from the breakaway on stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse is remarkable and testament to the character of the Norwegian.

"Yeah, I broke my collarbone four weeks ago in the Belgian Tour and I was crying in the hospital because I think I was not riding the Tour de France, but the day after I was on the home trainer and hoped I could go to the Tour de France," said an Abrahamsen in his post race interview in Toulouse. 

"Every day I did everything I could to come back, and here, standing at the Tour de France with a stage win, is amazing," said an emotional Abrahamsen. 

The Norwegian rider outsprinted Swiss champion Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) in a tense finale after the pair had been part of a strong breakaway group that stayed away to the finish in Toulouse, and Abrahamsen had to dig super deep to come out victorious. 

"Yes, he was so strong today from the start, and I tried, it was so difficult to pass him, but I was thinking, I have to win this stage in the Tour de France, I have to win this stage, and then I got a wheel in front and that was so nice," Abrahamsen explained.

It was an all-action stage of the Tour de France, and the fight for the breakaway was ferocious, and Abrahamsen and Schmid were part of a five-man group who were ahead of another five-man group featuring Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike). 

On the final climb of the day, Van der Poel attacked to try and bridge across to the front duo of Abrahamsen and Schmid, and came close but, was unsuccessful in his attempt, which Abrahamsen acknowledged, “Yeah, [Mathieu van der Poel], he is a very strong rider, so we had to push him very hard all day, I’m very happy.”

Abrahamsen was asked if he knew that he was going to attack on the finale, which saw him and Schmid go clear and the Norwegian responded, “No, I know I have a pretty good sprint, and we had been out for a long time, from metre zero, I was sprinting after the car, so I have be smart, not go over the limit and in the end I was hoping to take it to the sprint.

"We were very strong guys, it was never above 2:30, in the start it was 30 seconds to a minute all the time, and we were working so hard to get the gap all day, and it's so nice to get the victory now.

Beyond the incredible recovery story of Abrahamsen, it marks a historic day for Uno-X Mobility, with their first-ever Tour de France stage win, having only made their debut in the race in 2023. Abrahamsen has been an integral part of the team since 2017, when they were a development programme team.

"It’s so nice to be part of the team, being there at the start in 2017 and see the team growing every year, and very good people around, my trainer Lars Holm, and Rory, who helped me a lot, the doctor, to come back after the crash and I’m so proud of the team, and they believed me that I could go to the Tour de France after the crash and now I win a stage and it’s so so nice."

The victory was a major justification for Abrahamsen, who has been one of the key animators in the sport since his arrival on the big stage, a rider who is always willing to roll the dice and attack when others hesitate.

“Yes, a lot of people always wonder do I why want go in the breakaway, take mountain points, and maybe go for a stage win and then have to bit smarter, after ten days in Polka, fourteen days in polka dot jersey last year, I was a little bit tired and not able to win a stage and that was my dream, to win a stage of the Tour de France, and to have a stage is so nice."