Norwegian Fjellstro wins the fastest stage in Tour de France history

Norwegian Søren Kragh Andersen won the eleventh stage of the Tour de France, a 161.3-kilometer route between Vichy and Nevers, after outsprinting his rivals in the final sprint in the fastest stage in the race’s history, with an average speed of 50.91 km/h.

The previous record for the fastest road stage, excluding time trials, dated back to 1999 (50.36 km/h) between Laval and Blois, when Italian Mario Cipollini won the stage.

After a quiet day for the general classification leaders, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, the defending champion, retained the yellow jersey, holding a 3-minute-36-second lead over Dane Jonas Vingegaard and a 4-minute-6-second advantage over Belgian Remco Evenepoel.

This victory marks Kragh Andersen’s first Tour de France stage win, and the second for his Uno-X team, following compatriot Jonas Abrahamsen’s win in the eleventh stage last year.

The stage scheduled for Thursday appears once again likely to favor sprinters, between the Nevers-Magny-Cours and Chalon-sur-Sae circuits, before the race enters its final, decidedly mountainous phase.