'I thought I was too far back' - Waerenskjold explains instinctive move behind maiden Tour stage win

Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) claimed what he described as the biggest win of his career on stage 11 of the Tour de France in Nevers. 

“It means everything. It's my biggest win so far. Like I said when I came here, I knew there were two or three guys that are faster than me. But if I'm lucky and I have a good sprint, like today, then it's possible,” said Wærenskjold after the finish. 

The Norwegian entered the day with doubts after crashing during stage 10 on the run-in to Le Lioran, and admitted he wasn’t initially feeling great before building into the stage. 

“Usually, sometimes I have really good confidence, and I believe in myself, but there are many, many times where I feel super tired and it's impossible to win here. So, yeah, it's crazy that it happened today,” he said.

“Also, after the crash, I felt really shit at the start, but then my body got going, and I felt better in the final with the adrenaline.”

It was somewhat of a unique finish to the stage, with the sprinters' teams all well positioned in the closing kilometres leading to a standoff. 

The tension resparked with around 2km to go, and inside the final kilometre, it was Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), lead-out man of Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), who initially opened a gap on the field. Wærenskjold reacted by using the powerful Dutchman as a slingshot to launch himself and catch the other sprinters out.

"Yeah, it was really strange. I knew that we had to be in the front with 6km to go, and then it stopped because all the favourites were at the front, so they wanted to take advantage of that. We had to sprint into the last corner there, so I got a little flush, but I wanted to save some energy."

“Then it opened a gap on the right, and suddenly I saw Cees Bol with a gap. So I just tried to sprint up to him, hold a little bit back, and then go from his wheel.”

However, despite having a strong lead, couldn’t help but think back to stage 7 when he was passed by a rampant Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and had to settle for second in Bordeaux. However, this time around, it was Wærenskjold and Uno-X’s moment as he held on for a fine victory ahead of Kooij and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

“But then I saw there were probably 250 metres to go to the finish, and I was just waiting for the same thing to happen like when Merlier passed me the last time. Luckily, it didn't happen.”

Wærenskjold explained the similarities between the finale and one of his previous biggest victories, when he won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2025

“I thought I was too far back, and then it opened up on the right side, like it usually doesn't do. It was a bit the same feeling as my first really big win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. That was also like I was too far back, and suddenly I’m at the front, and yeah, it's unbelievable.”

The 26-year-old’s success marks the Norwegian team’s second-ever Tour stage win, following in the footsteps of Jonas Abrahamsen in 2025. However, in the 2026 edition, the team have also held the yellow jersey for two days with Torstein Træen before the 30-year-old abandoned the race following injuries sustained in a crash on the Tourmalet. 

“To finish it off for the team, we've had some quite high highs and lows in this race; it's incredible to take this win. I just have to let it sink in, and then I will probably be happier than I am now. It's a big surprise for myself.”