Torstein Træn is having a dream Tour de France, but his teammates keep teasing him: 'His inbox is now full of women'

Wearing his yellow jersey, Torstein Træn faces a major challenge this Thursday. Over the Col du Tourmalet, the Norwegian rider from Uno-X Mobility will have to defend his lead in the general classification. It’s going to be a tough day, but he has another challenge ahead of him: his teammates are trying to set him up with a girlfriend during the Tour.

Træn claimed the yellow jersey in the fourth stage of the Tour de France. The hilly stage to Foix was won by Mads Pedersen, but the 30-year-old climber was also in the leading group. He crossed the finish line in eighth place and now holds a 28-second lead over Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) in the general classification; Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) trails by nearly eight minutes.

It was a wonderful moment for the Norwegian, who has an extraordinary story to tell: he has recovered from a battle with cancer. Uno-X Mobility naturally celebrated the victory. Anders Halland Johannessen is Træn’s roommate, and he celebrated with an Instagram post. “Wait until tomorrow for new posts—he needs his sleep,” he wrote. “Unless you’re looking for a serious relationship.”

That joke got completely out of hand in the days that followed. It was picked up by the press. Johannessen told Eurosport what’s going on now. “His inbox is now full of women looking for a relationship,” jokes the twin brother of team leader Tobias Halland Johannessen. “We have to put it all in an Excel spreadsheet now, so we can have a little more control over which candidate we’ll pursue. But there’s room for a few more.”

Traeen himself was asked about it too, but he’s not as talkative as his teammate. “You’ll have to ask little Anders about that. He’s the one who figures all that stuff out; I just ride my bike.” But the search for a girlfriend isn’t over yet, as a new Instagram post by Johannessen shows. Traeen is using the internet to figure out how to get a girlfriend. It probably won’t be in the tips, but wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France can’t hurt...