Visma satisfied as Nordhagen closes gap to Pogačar on Tour de Romandie stage 1: 'We are in a strong position'

Tadej Pogačar won stage one of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday, but Jørgen Nordhagen had plenty to be pleased about too. The 21-year-old finished fourth — a result that delighted both rider and team.

As expected, it was Pogačar who accelerated on the final climb of the day. The question beforehand was whether anyone could follow the world champion — and, if so, who. Initially, only Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) could match his pace. But Nordhagen refused to let the leaders go.

The young Norwegian kept the three leaders in his sights. After a strong descent, he closed the gap completely. Nordhagen worked well in the small group that formed at the front, but was ultimately beaten in the sprint to finish fourth.

There was no disappointment, though. "This was a climb that really suited me today and I was really looking forward to it," he said afterwards on his team's website.

"It was a great chance to show myself. Everything came together at the end, and I am enormously grateful for the team around me and all the support," said Nordhagen, who is already looking ahead to what the rest of the week holds.

"I hope to stay with the best riders over the coming days and see how my legs respond towards the end of the week. It is a demanding race, of course."

The mood in the Visma | Lease a Bike camp matched Nordhagen's. Sports director Gaëtan Pons was equally upbeat. "We are in a strong position with Jørgen right now, and today we confirmed again that the form is there. There are still hard days to come in this Tour de Romandie, but we are confident of a strong overall result. As a team, we will do everything we can to support him in the coming stages."

The race continues on Thursday with a hilly stage, before the stages get progressively harder heading into the final weekend. After Wednesday, Nordhagen sits fourth in the general classification, 23 seconds behind yellow jersey leader Pogačar.