Leknessund forgot the trail: – Like driving blind
Andreas Leknessund apparently barely where he was when he rolled over the finish line after his very first Tour de France stage.
Alone on the speed bike tried to focus on each step, but in the sea of people in Copenhagen it was almost impossible.
Along all 13 kilometers there were people along the trails. Quite a few of them shouted his name.
– It was almost too many impressions. I became a little unfocused. That was as much as happened. It was raining, a lot of nerves, so it boiled over a bit, says the Tour debutant, who eventually finished in 73rd place.
Got the boy’s dream come true
But for Leknessund, interest was irrelevant. Ever since he was a child the Tromsø resident dreamed of cycling the Tour de France, and this turned the dream in France.
– I have to pinch my arm. This was special. It is a bit surreal to be up and running, says Leknessund.
The wild atmosphere along the trails made the experience even more special.
Just months after the 23-year-old became a cycling professional in Team DSM, the world shut down. He has hardly ridden a professional ride without it being corona.
A large audience has not been commonplace.
Edvald’s grip attracts attention: – I have never put it before!
– How were your nerves before the start?
– This morning I told the bosses that I was not nervous, but when I sat in the bus and everything had started, and felt the pressure from so many people, the nerves started to come. The body began to boil, says Leknessund.
Forgot the trail
And when he got on the bike and rolled down the starting ramp «it boiled over».
– I drove through the trail to times before the start, but I remembered nothing of it. And there was so much noise that I could not hear the radio in my ear. I had a complete blackout. It was like driving blind, says Leknessund.
In the rain, the former U23 European champion did not dare to give full throttle.
– I felt very good, but I with me that a lot went on the nose, so the most important thing was to avoid it, he says, and adds:
– I drove a little too safe. I probably braked twice as much as I should, because my shoulders were so high. But it would be boring to sniff today.
Must get used to the mood
Former professional cyclist Kurt Asle Arvesen has ridden far more Tour de France stages than Leknessund, but does not have much good advice to come up with.
To get used to the environment, mass training is the only thing that matters.
– It is difficult to give any advice, because it is just a matter of absorbing all the impressions and getting used to it, says Arvesen, and continues:
– It’s a mess. There are people screaming, helicopters over their heads and an overzealous sports director on the radio. There are many things he must take into account that he usually must not, but it will normalize over time.
Hers takes the TV 2 profile study on the bed
Believe in stage victory
When Leknessund cycled for Uno-X, in the years before he went to Team DSM, he had Arvesen as boss.
Arvesen is proud of his former student.
– He knows how to appreciate things. When he drove smaller rides for us, he told me that it was big for a little man from Tromsø. Now he is on the big stage, says the former top cyclist, who is now sports director of Uno-X.
He believes that Leknessund can do great things in the coming weeks.
– Well he has been through this day here, so now he can lower his shoulders and show that he is in good shape. He can break, and if everything goes his way, he can actually go to the top of a stage as well, he says.