Visma blocked Uno-X from joining the Vuelta breakaway on stage 17: 'Doesn't make it any more fun for me'

Uno-X is one of the teams doing everything it can to add another stage victory to its Vuelta a España tally. On Wednesday, the Norwegian team came close in the final flat stage with sprinter Magnus Cort. But Visma | Lease a Bike's team tactics meant that they were not allowed to join the breakaway, as 2026 Giro d'Italia stage winner Fredrik Dversnes told Eurosport.

Dversnes surprised the Giro d'Italia sprinters in Milan this year, and the folks at Visma | Lease a Bike haven't forgotten it. “It would be fantastic to do that again, but Visma has already made it pretty clear to me that they won’t let me go with the breakaway, so unfortunately it’s going to be tough,” said Dversnes.

"That's what they told me," the Norwegian confirms once again. "It's definitely a compliment. But anyway, it doesn't make it any more fun for me. That's just how cycling and tactics work—you simply have to respect it," he realises all too well.

In the end, the team went all out for Cort, who finished third. “It was truly fantastic to sprint here. The guys did a fantastic lead-out and can be very proud of what they did,” he said.

"I'm not a true sprinter, so I'm not as fast as some of the other guys here. That's why we didn't take on many responsibilities today. We just wanted to wait until the end and then set up our big f*cking train. The guys set me up perfectly, but the other sprinters quickly overtook me."

“During the first 100 meters of the sprint, I didn’t see anyone and thought I could win,” Cort says with a laugh. “Unfortunately, Brennan flew past me, just like Meeus did. I definitely couldn’t have done it without the team.”