Per Strand Hagenes ready to follow in Wout van Aert’s footsteps after tough years

He does not get many opportunities to compete for victory, but in the Antwerp Port Epic (a UCI 1.1 race), Per Strand Hagenes finished it off skillfully. In the final kilometer, he broke away from an elite group of ten riders. Dries De Bondt and Pau Miquel tried to catch him, but Hagenes was too fast. A great achievement for his first professional win in three years.

You read that right: it had been since the Sparkassen Giro in October 2023 that Hagenes last won a race. And he is only 22 years old. These were not the luckiest years for the Norwegian, who has been considered a great talent since his youth categories.

"Last year was definitely terrible," he told our camera. "From the Dauphiné in June, I started struggling with my sinuses. So after that, I didn’t race until the Tour Down Under this year. Even the team wondered, I think: if he comes back, what will his level be? It’s great to see that I improved quickly once I started racing again. I was surprised myself how fast I got back to form."

Seizing opportunities
Hagenes is the type who takes his chances. Just look at the E3 Saxo Classic, where, in the absence of Wout van Aert, he took the initiative in the finale and nearly caught Mathieu van der Poel. That earned him second place.

"When you can podium in a race like that, you know you are fully back. That gave me a boost," says Hagenes. "Combined with being a year older and wiser, and having more knowledge about training, I am slowly taking the step towards the level I want to reach."

Still, that difficult period did take a toll. "You are confident it will come back at some point, but you want it to happen as soon as possible. Also, there aren’t necessarily many more chances this season for a rider like me. So when you get such a chance, it’s great to succeed in seizing it in Antwerp, even if this is perhaps not the biggest race."

Van Aert
The Norwegian is lucky to be able to look up to examples around him. Even Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard, the leaders of Visma | Lease a Bike, did not have careers marked only by highlights. Both riders had to come back after setbacks. "That’s motivating. It’s always nice to ride alongside the best riders in the world and see them shine. It shows the team is smart, innovative, and that the training is high-level. I have a good bond with my Norwegian coach."

In the long run, Hagenes wants to reach the level of those examples. "I don’t hide the fact that my long-term goal is to win Paris-Roubaix," he admits. "If I manage to achieve that goal at some point in my career, it will be a great success. Today, I’m still winning at a different level, but that is only good experience."