On Thursday, Team Visma | Lease a Bike appeared at the start of the four-day stage race in Scandinavia with a strong squad, including Norwegians Jørgen Nordhagen and Per Strand Hagenes. Early on, a group of riders broke away in southern Norway. Thanks to the efforts of the Dutch team, the breakaway’s lead never extended beyond four minutes.

With dozens of flat kilometres leading toward the finish in Solakrossen, a bunch sprint seemed inevitable, until the wind began to play a major role in today’s race. With sixty kilometers to go, the peloton split into several groups. Led by Hagenes, the breakaway was caught in the final phase of the stage, although his compatriot Ingebrigtsen had attacked solo moment before. The Norwegian narrowly held off the reduced peloton and Brennan to claim his first professional victory.

“The conditions made it extremely tough today. In the finale, my hands were so cold I could barely shift gears. We went all-in as a team to bring back the break. Like everyone else from the team, I gave it my all and came through the final corner at the front of the peloton. Unfortunately, Ingebrigtsen was just too far ahead”, Brennan says afterwards.

Sports director Frans Maassen is proud of his team. “We saw early on that the crosswinds could make it hard to bring back the breakaway. So our riders moved to the front and gave everything. We caught the break, but one rider stayed ahead. Unfortunately, we didn’t have quite enough power left after that. We were hoping to sprint for the victory today with Matthew. It’s a shame that didn’t happen, but we rode a very strong race.”

According to both Maassen and Brennan, the team’s way of racing gives them confidence for the coming days in Norway. “We’re here with a motivated group, which is great. Tomorrow I expect an open race where anything can happen. We’ll need to stay alert”, Maassen says. Brennan adds: “Looking at the general classification, we still have several riders in a good position. Hopefully we can capitalize on that promising situation tomorrow.”