Visma | Lease a Bike has done it again! Nordhagen (19) dominates La Planche des Belles Filles

Jørgen Nordhagen took control of the Tour Alsace on Friday. The 19-year-old Norwegian riding for the Visma | Lease a Bike development team broke away from the rest on La Planche des Belles Filles, seizing victory and the leader's jersey.

Nordhagen spent last winter finishing one final cross-country skiing season, and promptly became a world champion on skis, before the talented climber fully focused on his time with Visma | Lease a Bike. Last year, he signed a contract extending until the end of 2027, with the prospect of moving from the development team to the WorldTour in 2025.

Nordhagen started road racing in April and immediately reached the podium in Liège-Bastogne-Liège for U23 after just a few weeks of training. In the Giro NextGen, he had to withdraw early due to illness, making the Tour Alsace his first highly regarded stage race for U23 where we could see the Norwegian truly in top form.

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Nordhagen stands out on La Planche des Belles Filles

After finishing third in a punchy finale in Ferrette on day two, Nordhagen took control on Friday with an uphill finish on La Planche des Belles Filles. He ultimately left second-place Rémi Capron trailing by forty seconds, with the riders from second to twelfth all finishing within sixteen seconds of each other. In other words, Nordhagen stood head and shoulders above the rest.

In the overall standings, the top talent now wears the yellow leader's jersey, with two days to go. His lead over Capron is 52 seconds, with a hilly stage on Saturday and a flat stage on Sunday to go. The overall victory is within reach for Visma | Lease a Bike and Nordhagen in the five-day stage race. The Dutch team impressed last year in the Giro NextGen, with Johannes Staune-Mittet winning. The Norwegian has been riding in the WorldTour this season and is currently competing in the Tour of the Czech Republic.

Visma | Lease a Bike struggles in the Czech Republic

However, Friday wasn't exactly a great day for Visma | Lease a Bike across the board. In the Czech Republic, Marc Hirschi (UAE-Team Emirates) took control on a hilly finish, and the Dutch team was nowhere to be seen. "Unfortunately, we did not achieve a top result. To be honest, we certainly expected more. We aimed for a good result with Johannes and Koen (Bouwman, ed.) today. The 22nd place is obviously not what we had hoped for. We will analyze this stage and set new goals for the last two days of this race," said team leader Robert Wagner via the team's official channels. "Tactically, we were well-organized. But unfortunately, we were not strong enough to compete with the other top riders on the final climb."

More positivity at Visma | Lease a Bike after the Tour of Wallonia

In contrast to the Czech Republic, spirits were positive in the Tour of Wallonia. In the five-day stage race, the team achieved four top ten finishes, which left the team feeling very positive. This was reported on the team's website.

In the final stage, Per Strand Hagenes secured fifth place. The 21-year-old Norwegian of Team Visma | Lease a Bike held on for a long time on the Muur van Thuïn but couldn't prevent stage winner Samuel Watson from taking the victory. Watson attacked on the steep final climb and crossed the finish line solo. Hagenes finished shortly behind in fifth place.

"I have mixed feelings about today," sports director Maarten Wynants said. "We wanted to make the race hard and be with it if a group got away. In the end, sixteen men attacked and we were not among them. That was not good." In the finale, Mick van Dijke sacrificed his chances for Hagenes. "The boys did everything they could to put Per in a good situation. Per probably did the same effort as the winner, but he had to come from too far back."

According to Wynants, the past week has been a good learning experience. "Our goal was to win a stage and we didn't succeed. Still, with three top-five finishes and Per's eighth place in the queen stage, we can look back on this race with satisfaction. The guys did well, especially when you consider that we only had four riders left after Loe van Belle crashed out."