Jan Christen moves up to third overall at Tour of Norway

Jan Christen rode strongly to finish in fourth on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Norway, with the young Swiss rider moving up to third overall ahead of Sunday’s final stage. UAE Team Emirates-XRG went on the front foot in anticipation of the final uphill finish, but the climb proved a little too short to make any definitive splits.

As the peloton roared towards Heja, Sebastián Molano was the first to pounce, with the Colombian challenging race leader Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) for bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. With Molano’s job done and teammates Rui Oliveira and Mikkel Bjerg having combined well to position the Emirati squad at the head of the bunch, attention turned to a home favourite for a big burst of acceleration.

Stepping up to the task, Vegard Stake Laengen dropped the hammer at the front of the peloton and ensured that the breakaway would not contest the stage honours. Rather, it was time for Alessandro Covi and Christen to see what they could produce on the 2.5km-long climb to the finish line.

With 2km to go, Covi launched a brutal acceleration and proceeded to reduce the front group to around 8-10 riders, before Christen looked to leave his mark.

Try as he might, the climb proved a little too explosive for the Swiss rider to drop the favourite in an eventual sprint, Brennan. As the pair approached the final 300m, however, it was Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Maxim Van Gils who turned the race into a three-up sprint and eventually surged on to claim the stage 3 victory.

Eventually coming over the line in fourth, Christen ensured that he would vault up to third overall, with the 20-year-old sitting 27 seconds off the race lead heading into the fourth and final stage.

Christen: “The legs were good but these climbs are just slightly too short for my style. We came here with the goal of winning the GC and a stage so we’ll throw everything we can at tomorrow to do something.

“The shape is good and I’m just really happy to be back in the race rhythm in the build up to the Tour de Suisse.”

Tour of Norway 2025 stage 3 results

1. Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 3:23:17

2. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t

3. Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers) s.t

4. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

General classification after Tour of Norway stage 3

1. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) 12:39:05

2. Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers) +16″

3. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +27″