'I'm a very proud man' - Hushovd reacts as Traeen delivers historic yellow jersey for Uno-X

While Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won the stage from the day's breakaway, Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) finished eighth in the reduced sprint of ten riders, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and the peloton rolling home 12:59 later to hand the Norwegian the race lead.

Visibly emotional after the finish, Uno-X Mobility General Manager Hushovd said the outcome had far exceeded the team's expectations, as the team secured their first yellow jersey.

"I'm emotional, and I still am, because it was not what we were aiming for this morning, you know? It kind of happens, but it happens when we race like this, when we are not afraid of going into breakaways, and we are offensive," Hushovd told the media at the finish.

"Everybody also knows a lot of the steps we take as a team, step by step... not huge, but steps year by year… I'm a very proud man today."

Asked why it was fitting that Træen had delivered the team's defining moment, Hushovd reflected on the project that began in 2017.

"Our first year was in 2017 with Jonas Abrahamsen, who won a stage last year, and with Torstein Træen, who we now have the yellow jersey with in the Tour de France."

"Now we have the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. So it also shows that we can come from a small country and create a team from scratch. And if you do it right, then you have patience, and you do a good job over years and time, you can create athletes and riders like this."

Hushovd's pride was shared by Sports Director Christian Andersen, who described it as a milestone day for the Norwegian team.

"It's the biggest day we had so far so we can just say it's outstanding," Andersen told TNT Sports.

Andersen also praised Træen's ride and joked that the Norwegian now only needs the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey to complete the set of Grand Tour leaders' jerseys.

"Yeah, for him, the day has been perfect from the start to the end, and he actually did more or less the same in the Vuelta. So now he also did it here in the Tour, so now he just needs to do it in the Giro."

Asked about the recent success of Norwegian sport, with achievements across multiple disciplines, including the national football team's World Cup victory over Brazil to reach the quarter-finals, Hushovd said Træen's achievement was another source of national pride.

"Yeah, I mean, it's no doubt that Norwegian sport is not only winter sports, because it was shown over many, many years that we are good at that. But now in big summer sports like track and field, golf, tennis, cycling, soccer... you know, like there are many," said Hushovd. 

"So yeah, it just makes me proud. Also, it made the riders proud when we knocked Brazil out of the World Cup. We are just in a nice flow, but this is incredible. I think it makes Norwegians proud, a small country achieving these things."