Leknessund breaks Grand Tour curse with poignant tribute for Norway on Vuelta stage 7

Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) climbed to victory from the breakaway on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España atop Aramón Valdelinares ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Wearing a black mourning band on a poignant day of national reflection for Norway following the passing of King Harald V, Leknessund delivered a proud tribute on his Vuelta debut.

The Norwegian was part of a five-man selection including Van Aert, Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello-Q36.5), Alexey Lutsenko (NSN), and his teammate Johannessen.

While Van Aert and Leknessund initiated the early move, Dunbar, Johannessen, and Lutsenko launched an aggressive mid-stage counter-attack to bridge across from the large chasing group. Once unified at the front, the five leaders established a rock-solid rhythm. 

Try as they might, the remaining chasers behind could not close the distance before the final 25km, which signalled the start of a two-climb finale featuring the Puerto de San Rafael and the summit finish, with the frontrunners holding a 1:30 cushion.

Leknessund attacked with around 7.5km on the Aramón Valdelinares, while Johannessen played the ultimate teammate role, marking Van Aert, who was leading the chase.  

Ultimately, the 27-year-old powered to an emphatic solo victory, finally banishing the ghosts of his four second-place finishes on Giro d'Italia stages to claim an elusive Grand Tour stage victory, as his teammate Johannessen secured second after distancing Van Aert in the finale.

As a result, Uno-X have also now won a stage at the Vuelta for the first time, and completed a Grand Tour set in 2026, adding to victories at the Giro and Tour earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) distanced the competition to finish 19th on the stage, 4:23 behind Leknessund, extending his lead in the GC. 

Van Aert was the first rider to attack after the flag drop, and he was joined by Milan Vader (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Leknessund, and they quickly gained an advantage of over a minute.

Behind the trio, a quartet of chasers formed including Iván Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma), Paul Ourselin (Cofidis), Timo Roosen (Picnic PostNL), and Hannes Wilksch (Tudor). 

The head of the peloton was briefly blocked off, allowing the two groups out front to extend their advantages. 

However, the breakaway formation was far from settled as multiple riders tried to break clear, leading to the chasers being caught. 

Such was the effort that the front trio were having to put in to stay clear of the action–packed peloton that Vader was distanced by his companions.

Lutsenko, Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) and Leo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) were the next group to escape from the peloton, bringing the gap to the leaders down to around 35 seconds.

This trio would eventually be joined by a group of around 20 riders that included Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), still chasing Van Aert and Leknessund.

On the first categorised climb of the stage, the Puerto El Remolcador, Dunbar, Johannesen and Lutsenko were able to leave behind the chasers and catch the front duo before the summit, forming a group of five.

The group would form an advantage over the chasers of around 1:30 while behind the peloton, UAE set a tempo that allowed the gap to steadily increase, seemingly content to forgo contesting the stage honours.

At the foot of the Puerto de San Rafael with 25km to go, the five leaders had 1:30 over the chasers, with the peloton at 6:45.

The chasing group started to fracture on the climb with Bisiaux and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) among the aggressors. However, the advantage to those out front was not budging. 

Onto the final climb, Leknessund made the first move with 7.5km remaining. Lustenko chased with Johannessen on his wheel, while Dunbar and Van Aert kept their own pace further back, though the latter eventually rejoined the two riders in front of him, and distanced Lutsenko.

Juan Felipe Rodríguez (EF Education-EasyPost) and Iván Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma) looked to be the strongest climbers from the chasers, as the Colombians pressed on, though their deficit was too much to make up on the leaders.

Van Aert chased while Johannessen played the teammate role, and the Belgian would be unable to close the gap on a flying Leknessund.

Johannessen jumped from Van Aert's wheel just before the flamme rouge to ensure an emphatic 1-2 for Uno-X.

Behind in the GC group, it was Decathlon who formed a train and shredded the field, seeing the likes of Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) distanced early.

Gall launched his attack with only Pogačar and Enric Mas (Movistar) able to follow. However, the race leader would push on solo with around 1km remaining, finishing six seconds ahead of Gall and sixteen seconds in front of Mas.