Leknessund seals first Grand Tour stage win

Andreas Leknessund celebrates winning stage seven of Vuelta a EspanaGetty Images

Andreas Leknessund led home a Norwegian one-two on the day the country's King Harald died at 89

Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport journalist

Norway's Andreas Leknessund secured an emotional first Grand Tour stage win as he led home a Norwegian one-two on stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana.

The 27-year-old was part of the break from the start of the stage and after 137 kilometres he left behind his remaining companions on the last climb to ride the final seven kilometres solo, winning by 34 seconds from fellow Norwegian and Uno-X Mobility team-mate Tobias Halland Johannessen, with Wout van Aert finishing third.

"It really hurt today," said Lenessund. "I didn't expect it to be this emotional."

A Norwegian one-two was fitting given Norway's King Harald V died on Friday, with both riders sporting black armbands in his memory.

World champion Tadej Pogacar, who is looking to complete a full set of Grand Tour victories, finished 19th - four minutes and 23 seconds behind the winner - but extended his lead in the general classification by a further 16 seconds after pulling clear of his main rivals with a few kilometres to go.

Britain's Oscar Onley lost further time to the red jersey but climbed to sixth in GC and took a firm grip on the young rider's classification, now leading the battle for the white jersey by nearly four minutes.

Stage seven results

  1. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) 3hrs 49mins 47secs

  2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +34 secs

  3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Team Visma - Lease a Bike) +47 secs

  4. Jakob Omrzel (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) +58 secs

  5. Juan Felipe Rodriguez (Spa/EF Education - EasyPost) +1min 13secs

  6. Ivan Sosa (Col/Equipo Kern Pharma) +1min 16secs

  7. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/NSN Cycling Team) +1min 44secs

  8. Eddie Dunbar (Ire/Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +1min 51secs

  9. Leo Bisiaux (Fra/Decathlon CMA CGM) +1min 53secs

  10. Raul Garcia Pierna (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 14secs

General classification after stage seven

  1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 19hrs 32mins 37secs

  2. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +3mins 50secs

  3. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora - hansgrohe) +4mins 50secs

  4. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM) +5mins 1secs

  5. Sepp Kuss (US/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +6mins 5secs

  6. Oscar Onley (GB/Netcompany Ineos) +6mins 6secs

  7. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +6mins 12secs

  8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +7mins 17secs

  9. Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana) +7mins 46secs

  10. Gregor Mühlberger (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM) +9mins 29secs

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  1. La Vuelta - 81st Tour of Spain 2026 - Stage 7
    Getty Images

    Stage seven was from Vall d'Alba to Aramon Valdelinares in Aragon, north east Spain

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