"I rode almost the whole race alone”, a proud Valter said. He kept Márton Dina two and a half minutes behind. "When the group behind me started to speed up, I could also accelerate. My last companion was dropped at that point. The group behind me thought I would collapse towards the end, but I was able to keep a good pace throughout the race. It's extraordinary to win both the time trial and the road race.”

Valter knew it was not going to be an easy race. "It's always difficult to race a national championship without your teammates. I think I was smart and showed that I have made progress. The average speed was four kilometres per hour higher than last year. I have gained much experience at Team Jumbo-Visma this season, and I have noticed that I have more power. I am happy about that.”

In Norway, the U23s and professionals raced at the same time. Hagenes finished ninth overall, the first U23 rider to do so. He was satisfied. "It was a nice race. Uno-X had 15 riders at the start, so Johannes Staune-Mittet and I knew it would be tough. At the beginning, we tried to put some pressure on the favourites. Unfortunately, I crashed six laps from the end, and it took a lot of energy to get back.”

"After the crash, we shifted our focus from the overall to the U23 championship because the competition was too strong”, the nineteen-year-old Strand Hagenes continued. "Luckily, we managed to take the jersey. Hopefully, Johannes and I will be strong enough next year to win the professional category.”

It was Valter's second win of the season, and Hagenes' fourth. After this weekend and with the Dutch and Hungarian titles won, the WorldTour team's tally stands at 42, the Development Team's at 10.