Jørgen Nordhagen stands out on brutal UAE climb: "Showing great progress"

Jørgen Nordhagen gets to shine in the UAE Tour in the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, and the young Norwegian from Visma | Lease a Bike showed his best side in the first mountain stage. The 21-year-old climber finished eighth on the summit of Jebel Mobrah among the world’s elite. "I’m very happy with that," he said after the race.

"I quickly felt that my legs were good," Nordhagen reflected on his performance, having lost just over a minute to winner Antonio Tiberi. "When the real favorites launched their attacks, I knew I had to stay patient not to blow myself up. That’s what I did. The end of the final climb was incredibly steep—I fought all the way to the top. That eighth place gives me a lot of satisfaction."

Team director Maarten Wynants praised the young rider on Visma | Lease a Bike’s website. "Jørgen really did an excellent job. Just like the other riders, who played a big part in his great result. It was an honest climb. Truly a wall, like an Angliru on the highway. Extremely tough, but Jørgen is showing impressive development."

Next test on Jebel Hafeet
Thanks to his strong climbing performance, Nordhagen has also made a big jump in the general classification: he is now ninth, exactly one and a half minutes behind Tiberi. With the mountain stage to Jebel Hafeet still ahead, the Norwegian certainly has room to move up. "Jebel Hafeet is a very different type of climb, but with these legs, I will do everything I can to secure my top ten ranking in the GC."

Wynants added: "And with Wilco (Kelderman, ed.) and Tijmen (Graat, ed.) we’re still in a strong position. We came here with a well-rounded team. That was clearly visible and should pay off again on Saturday."