Edvald Boasson Hagen: The beautiful flower that bloomed too early and couldn’t hold its own among the bolder guys

T-Mobile exited cycling in 2007. The sponsor had had enough after numerous doping cases and scandals, with figures like Jan Ullrich and Patrick Sinkewitz causing turmoil and testing positive. Under new sponsors, Columbia and later HTC, the team emerged as a fresh contender in major races, relying on several big talents. One of them was Mark Cavendish, who won sprint after sprint. Another was a cheerful Norwegian.

Edvald Boasson Hagen, born in 1987 near Lillehammer, first made his mark with the general public in 2008. He won stages in the Eneco Tour and the Tour of Britain, and in previous years, Hagen had already claimed victories in the Tour de l'Avenir and smaller races like the Tour of Normandy. He racked up many wins, and they came quickly at a young age. The fast Norwegian burst onto the scene like a mushroom, quickly establishing himself among the elite.

The spring of 2009 marked another chapter in Hagen's rapid rise, perhaps the most remarkable chapter of all. As a 21-year-old, he made his presence known during the rain-soaked edition of Gent-Wevelgem. It turned into a battlefield. More than half of the peloton didn’t finish, and large sections of the riders ended up far behind. It turned out to be perfect conditions for a Norwegian.

Hagen broke away with Aleksandr Kuschynski of Liquigas and unleashed a powerful sprint in the final 400 meters. The Russian could only hope that Hagen would falter, but that didn’t happen. The HTC-Columbia youngster was simply unstoppable and triumphed in the harsh Belgian weather conditions. An impressive victory that seemed to signal the start of a series of classic wins in the spring season.

As it turned out, 2009 was Hagen’s best year. He promptly won a stage in the Giro during his grand tour debut and, besides being a classic rider, proved to be a savvy sprinter who could also threaten the general classification in smaller tours. That autumn, he claimed eight stage victories across Poland, the Eneco Tour and Britain. He finished third in the first race and won the last two. The cycling world was convinced: this man would be a superstar.

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In 2010, the Norwegian all-rounder joined the hyper-ambitious Team Sky. That team had a goal that would eventually cost Hagen many personal successes: Sky wanted to win the Tour with a British rider. The first two seasons, they failed. Bradley Wiggins underperformed as team leader in the first year and crashed out the next. This opened up opportunities for the team’s stage hunters, with Hagen being a prime example.

In the sixth stage, he went for it, winning a bunch sprint. Geraint Thomas' lead-out was fantastic, and the power in the Norwegian’s legs was undeniable. Later in that Tour, Hagen showed his versatility. He handled serious climbs like Sestrières and Montgenèvre with ease before soloing to victory in Pinerolo. This combination of wins was something we later only saw Wout van Aert replicate in future Tours. However, despite Hagen’s impressive performances, Sky considered the Tour a disappointment, and this influenced the following years.

A meticulous preparation followed for the 2012 Tour. For Hagen, that meant nothing more and nothing less than leading out Cavendish in sprints and pacing Wiggins in the mountains. And successfully so. Sky dominated the Tour that year, winning with the powerful time-trialist Wiggins and taking six stages. This time, however, there were no victory salutes from the Norwegian. The following year, Hagen didn’t finish the Tour, but his role remained the same. The big British guns took home the most important prizes, while Hagen’s victories became fewer and fewer. He grabbed most of his wins in his homeland, during the Tour of Norway and the national championships.

It’s not that Hagen stopped winning altogether — he claimed multiple stage victories in the Dauphiné, for instance. In one-day races, which were not a priority for Sky, he secured honorable finishes. Philippe Gilbert denied him the world title in 2012. Yet from 2014 onwards, Hagen’s career clearly shifted. The lack of freedom at Sky, where he was completely without any podium finishes for the first time in 2014, led him to move to the much smaller MTN-Qhubeka team.

Hagen was only 27 years old at the time — normally the age around which riders peak and are at their best. However, the Norwegian all-rounder seemed overshadowed by the large image Sky had quickly built. He became more reserved and humble. At the South African team MTN-Qhubeka, which later became Dimension Data, Hagen had the opportunities but lacked the team’s support in a competitive classics season dominated by riders like Gilbert, Peter Sagan and the strong Quick-Step squad.

It wasn’t the fresh start the classics rider had hoped for. His spring performances dimmed, and he was often seen finishing high in the rankings in stages that were soon forgotten by the public. He could still win overall titles in his beloved Norway, and on rare occasions, his appetite for victory would resurface. A special highlight came during the nineteenth stage of the 2017 Tour.

The exhausted peloton had no interest in another bunch sprint, so the breakaway riders had their chance. It was the perfect day for Hagen, sharp as ever. He stayed ahead with Nikias Arndt, and in the final stretch, a roundabout loomed. Hagen took the right side, Arndt the wrong one. It was a brilliant third stage victory for the now 30-year-old Norwegian. It would turn out to be one of his last great feats.

Hagen came close a few more times, such as in the cobbled Tour stage to Arenberg in 2022, but his humble, Norwegian arms no longer raised in victory. His final years were spent winless, filling out the peloton or leading out sprints for French teams. It was a relatively unremarkable end for a beautiful flower that, in hindsight, bloomed far too early. Once aware of his abilities, Hagen was never able to truly stay among the bold front-runners.

Best of luck in the future, Edvald!