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World Tour 15 Oct '24 - 20 Oct '24
1/6 Fangchenggang › Fangchenggang 149km
2/6 Chongzuo › Jingxi 181km
3/6 Jingxi › Bama 214km
Strong Hagenes fights his way to third place in Renewi Tour final classification

Strong Hagenes fights his way to third place in Renewi Tour final classification

Per Strand Hagenes rewarded himself with a podium spot in the final classification of the Renewi Tour. The 21-year-old Norwegian from Team Visma | Lease a Bike finished seventh in the brutal stage to Geraardsbergen, which secured him third place in the general classification. Christophe Laporte finished in fourth place.

The final stage of the five-day stage race presented the riders with a mini version of the Tour of Flanders. Hagenes had set his sights on a place in the breakaway of the day and was part of a large breakaway group with twenty other riders. The Norwegian made a strong impression on the short, steep climbs and was among the best riders in the breakaway.

Entering the final lap, Hagenes and his breakaway companions were caught by the reduced peloton, but the young rider did not give up. On the Kapelmuur, he jumped with Tim Wellens and Arnaud de Lie and the trio later became a group of seven. On the final climb, Wellens and De Lie proved to be the strongest and divided the prizes. De Lie won the stage and Wellens crowned himself winner of the Renewi Tour. 

"When the strongest riders from the peloton joined our group, I tried to follow as long as possible."

Per Strand Hagenes

Hagenes crossed the line in seventh place and secured third place in the overall classification. "I'm very happy with this. Thanks in part to control work by Tosh and Julien, I ended up in a nice leading group. When the strongest riders from the peloton joined our group, I tried to follow as long as possible. In the end, that gave me third place in the general classification."

Sports director Arthur van Dongen looks back on a successful week. "Beforehand, our goal was to reach the podium in the final classification. That we succeeded with a young guy like Per gives a very good feeling. Christophe unfortunately didn't have the legs to compete in the final, otherwise there might have been more. Nevertheless, we are very satisfied with the third and fourth places in the general classification and Christophe's second place in the fourth stage."

Team Visma | Lease a Bike did not come out of the Belgian-Dutch stage race completely unscathed. "After losing Olav before, today we saw Mick drop out early due to the consequences of yesterday's crash. Tosh stepped off later in the afternoon because of the tough conditions. He had made sure at the beginning of the day that Christophe and Tiesj did not have to do too much."

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