Cycling
Without cheers: Norwegian Hagenes wins Münsterland Giro
Per Strand Hagenes won the 18th Münsterland Giro. photo
© Friso Gentsch/dpa
The Norwegian outsider Per Strand Hagenes was apparently surprised by his victory at the 18th Münsterland Giro.
Norwegian outsider Per Strand Hagenes is reeling from his win at the 18th. Münsterland-Giro apparently surprised itself.
The 20-year-old from the Jumbo-Visma team achieved success single-handedly after an attack a good two kilometers from the finish, but simply continued driving after crossing the finish line. Apparently Hagenes believed he had to do one more lap and therefore refrained from celebrating.
Behind the youngster, after 194.2 kilometers, the Australian Kaden Groves and the Danish former world champion Mads Pedersen secured second and third place in the sprint of a smaller group, 17 seconds apart. The best German was Jonas Koch in tenth place. The group of ten broke away from the field 73 kilometers from the finish, thus preventing the expected mass sprint.
In recent years the race has often been decided in a sprint, with Marcel Kittel winning twice and André Greipel and John Degenkolb winning once each. The last German winner was Max Walscheid in 2018.