Tour de France results: Soren Waerenskjold makes long-range sprint to win fastest-ever stage

Soren Waerenskjold stunned the big guns with a long-distance sprint to win the Tour de France’s fastest stage ever.

Competing in his fourth Tour, the 26-year-old Norwegian took his first stage win and only the second stage for his team, Uno-X Mobility.

Overall race leader Tadej Pogacar is three minutes and 36 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification.

The Peloton completed the 11th stage at an average speed of 50.9 km/h, surpassing the previous record of 50.3 km/h set in 1999.

On Wednesday, a sprint finish was expected on a flat 161.3km route from Vichy to Nevers, and it was Cees Bol who made the first move as the peloton entered the final 500 meters after catching the day’s escape.

But his teammate Olav Kooij did not follow, and as the drivers hesitated, Waerenskjold sneaked through a gap next to the barriers to launch a counter-attack with 400 meters remaining.

Kooij and Jasper Philipsen raced past Bol before giving chase, but they had left themselves with plenty to do as Waerenskjold won by almost a bike length from Kooij.

Philipsen crossed the line third but was relegated for moving in the sprint, leaving Milan Fretin on the podium.

Waerenskjold, who finished second to Tim Merlier on stage seven, said: “I saw that Ces Bol had a gap and I tried to run towards him and try to stay a little bit back to get off his wheel.

“Then I saw there were 250 people left. As Merlier passed me, I expected the same thing to happen, but this time it didn’t happen.”

“This means everything, it’s my biggest win so far. There are two or three people here who are faster, but if I’m lucky and I do a good sprint like today it’s possible.”

“I just need to let it sink in and then I’ll probably be happier than I look now, but it’s a big surprise to me.”