Jordi Meeus takes first win since Champs Elysees on stage 3 of Tour of Norway; Wout van Aert 4th on sprint return
CyclingSaturday, 25 May 2024 at 17:54
Jordi Meeus has taken his first win since the biggest victory of his career on the Champs Elysees at the 2023 Tour de France ahead of Pavel Bittner and Alexander Kristoff with Wout van Aert 4th on his first sprint since returning from injury.
Although four riders got themselves into the breakaway on the day, the peloton was keeping the quartet on a relatively tight leash for much of the stage at around two minutes, not giving the leaders much hope of taking a stage win. Heading into the final 30km, the leaders, having dropped down to just three, had only 1:00 advantage.
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After a brave effort from the breakaway, with just under 3km to go, they were finally swallowed up by a rampant peloton. With a flat finish to the day, the attention of the bunch then turned to the preparations for the bunch sprint finale.
With a number of renowned fast men in the peloton at the 2024 Tour of Norway, the fight for position at the front of the peloton under the Flamme Rouge was an intense one. In the end, it was Uno-X Mobility who led into the final kilometre.
When Alexander Kristoff launched, Wout van Aert was on his wheel but in a thrilling finale it was BORA - hansgrohe's Jordi Meeus who powered to the line from the other side of the road, taking his first victory since his win on the Champs Elysees.
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- Remco did a Lorenzo Finn (who's been praised for his maturity and selflessness). Questions were asked as to how Evenepoel actually thought of doing such a huge pull. After all, in all of his 6 prior seasons he was the sole leader at quick step, and wasn't used to working as the super domestíque. He also never really had a super domestíque working for him. But at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, he experienced that for the first time. Giulio Pellizzari pulled for him for 15 km on very rough terrain and then lead him out. Evenepoel soloed to victory and Pellizzari still finished 3rd, and won the youth classification. Perhaps that inspired Evenepoel to do the same for Lipo. As for the Tour de France, if Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe spring a surprise and take Pellizzari along with Lipowitz and Evenepoel, that'd be a very strong trio, especially as they work together well (and for that reason Roglič must be excluded). Hindley and Dani Martínez could be excellent mountain domestíques
Rafionain-Glas01-04-2026 - I don't expect Remco to make the front split on debut. If we have Pogačar out front, and then van Aert and van der Poel in the second group chasing, they'll cooperate well. In that respect Pedersen's disrupted season may be a bad thing for Pogačar because with three riders cooperation wouldn't be as good.Rafionain-Glas01-04-2026
- Sad that, as of now, in the last picture of Tiesj Benoot on the podium of a race, he botched up his facial expression. What, did he not realise the cameraman was taking the picture?Rafionain-Glas01-04-2026
- Powless is a great guymij01-04-2026
- I think Remco is trying to save face after having come out empty handed from Catalunya. Having said that, this is probably going to be one hell of a race because Wout is definitely in great shape and will do anything to win this race while healthy. I don't think teams will change tactics just because he'll be taking part, though.Colnago-fan01-04-2026
- If Pogi wins on Sunday and they ask him in a few years who he beat at Flanders, imagine the names he'll list: MVDP, Van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Remco Evenepoel and Ganna. When they ask Jonas 🐟 he'll answer: Lenny "47kg" Martinez and Georg "absolute amateur" Stainhauser. It's all clear to you who's who. Who is the Goat... and who is the clown. 🤡Mou-Cro-HR01-04-2026
- So Jonas is doing great? OK, we'll see at the Tour. But it's bad news for Remco. Two years ago only Pogi and Jonas were better than Remco, when it came to the mountains. Now we have at least two more, Seixas and Del Toro... and maybe even Pelizzari. The fools from Bora Red Bull must be banging their heads into a brick wall: "We're so fvckin' stupid. Remco will never again win a GT, and we paid millions for him. For what, to be a domestique and a ITT champion? May Jesus the Lord forgive us."Mou-Cro-HR01-04-2026
- The fact that he still got a win at La Vuelta, 2 2nd places at the Tour, a triumph at the Tour de Pologne and at the Algarvia, and 2nd at the Dauphiné while still recovering shows his classRafionain-Glas01-04-2026
- It's not been changed at the whim, it's just like Pogačar's debut at Paris-Roubaix last year. The plan was always there, and it was always that dependant on how he recovers from Catalunya. While his climbing form is questionable (certainly not as bad as at the UAE) it's enough for Flanders, and as he showed on stage 1 and stage 7 his punch is there (last year he didn't have the punch), and his engine is obviously there too.Rafionain-Glas01-04-2026
- Do you know what the fundamental difference is between Pogi and Jonas? Pogi is the first to be happy that Remco will compete in Flanders. He's a fan of that decision because he wants the best guys at Flanders. But Jonas on the other hand just wants to collect trophies against Lenny Martinez and Damiano Caruso. What a big difference in honesty and character between Pogi and Vinni. Remco doesn't need to be afraid that Pogi will sit on his wheel at Flanders like Jonas did in Catalunya. It's much more comfortable when you don't have a stalker on your back wheel the whole time. I want to see MVDP, Remco, Van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Pogi together after the 2. Kwaremont. It will be a cycling festival, and may the best man win.Mou-Cro-HR01-04-2026
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Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) s'impose au sprint sur la 3e étape du #TourofNorway ! Le Belge (25 ans) n'avait plus gagné depuis sa victoire sur les Champs-Élysées l'an dernier. Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich Post NL) est 2e et Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) est 3e devant Wout Van Aert.
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