“Andreas Leknessund Becomes Second Norwegian to Wear Pink Jersey in Giro d’Italia after Winning Stage 4 Sprint”

Leknessund and Paret-Peintre were part of a group of refugees who built up to a five-minute lead over the main field during the stage. They were left alone in the lead after shaking off the last rivals in the final steep climb at the end of the 175 km route. In the flat approach to Lago Laceno, the Frenchman succeeded in a sprint and won the most valuable stage laurel of his career.

“It’s absolutely amazing. Of course I wanted the stage, but I knew the pink jersey was on the line. I tried one attack where I gave it everything to shake him off, but he managed to hold on. Then I he didn’t have the legs at the end, but to be in pink is super special,” said Leknessund, who was two seconds behind Pareto-Peintre, about the biggest success of his career so far.

Twenty-three-year-old Leknessund, who is starting only his second Grand Tour race, became the second Norwegian to wear the pink jersey at the Giro. Only Knut Knudsen was able to do it before him in 1975. He is now 28 seconds ahead of Evenepoel, and the winner of Tuesday’s stage is third with half a minute gap.

“This year my main goal was the Giro, so I trained hard for today, for these three weeks. We knew today was going to be a breakaway day, so it was an important stage for us because as a team we came for some stage laurels. I knew I was faster at the end, so we worked together until the end. And he has the pink jersey in the end, so everyone is happy,” said the winning AG2R-Citroën rider.

For this time, Evenepoel resigned from defending the pink jersey and concentrated on guarding his biggest rival, Primož Roglič. Together with the Slovenian cyclist, he also reached the finish line in the pack of main favorites, two minutes behind the winner. Roglič is fifth overall with a loss of 1:12 to the leader.