Alberto Bettiol thought on Monday that he had won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland. The Italian crossed the finish line cheering second, as he did not know that Norwegian Adreas Leknessund had won the stage due to a lack of communication.
Bettiol beat Michael Matthews and Matteo Trentin, among others, in the sprint, but had to deal with a big disappointment a few minutes later. After the finish, the Tuscan was pointed out by other riders that not he, but Leknessund had won.
The 23-year-old Leknessund had left with nine fellow refugees in the ride from Küsnacht to Aesch after a quick opening phase. The Team DSM rider attacked at the foot of the Challpass, the third and final climb of the stage. He took a lead of more than a minute and a half and soloed unthreatened to the victory.
The situation was very similar to the women’s final at the Olympic Games in 2021, in which Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen were surprised by Anna Kiesenhofer. At the time, the Austrian had attacked from the start of the course and crossed the finish line in Fuji solo.
Andreas Leknessund recorded the biggest win of his career.
Andreas Leknessund recorded the biggest win of his career. Photo: Getty Images
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“I don’t know what happened. My radio was off and I was focused on the sprint,” said Bettiol, who received the disappointing news from his joking compatriot Matteo Trentin. “They will make some jokes about it today and tomorrow, but that is part of the course.”
Leknessund is the second stage winner after Stephen Williams in this edition of the Tour of Switzerland. Williams retained the leader’s jersey and is still four seconds ahead of closest attacker Maximilian Schachmann in the general classification.
The Tour of Switzerland, together with the Critérium du Dauphiné, which concluded on Sunday, is the most important race in preparation for the Tour de France, which starts on July 1. The WorldTour race continues on Tuesday with a transition stage to Grenchen and lasts until Sunday.
For users of the app, tap the tweet above to view Alberto Bettiol’s painful miss.