A breath of fresh air

July 29 ^th 2013 - 12:31

These feelings of discovery, the call of the unknown, are not unlike the sense of amazement triggered by the first Norwegian successes in the peloton. Some of us were there when Dag Otto Lauritzen managed to hold off Colombian Luis Herrera's late charge in the 1987 Tour, and we were bewildered at this new type of Viking.

Pioneer Lauritzen put his country's potential on the table for all to see, a promise which was confirmed by the sturdy-framed, lightning-fast Thor Hushovd. With a repertoire far more varied than that of the run-of-the-mill sprinters, he won mass sprints, took a Pyrenean stage ending in Lourdes without the slightest need for divine assistance, conquered the green jersey thanks to the points he grabbed in the mountains, and rounded it all off by pulling on the rainbow jersey on the other side of the world... a triumph loaded with symbolism. Ever since his Australian tour de force, Thor has clearly continued to inspire his countrymen, and Edvald Boasson-Hagen's rise to become one of the stars of cycling is but one example of it. The heirs to the Norse dynasty are welcome to stake their claim to the Arctic Race of Norway.

Christian Prudhomme
Director of the Tour de France