Young Norwegian Rides Like a Veteran in His First Giro

Photo ©: Cyclingnews.com

BERGAMO, Italy — His blond hair poking from his cycling helmet and his tanned face flushed, Edvald Boasson Hagen set his sights on the finish line at the Giro d’Italia on Saturday. He zoomed down the course, his bike swaying beneath him as he pumped his legs.

This time, though, his effort was not enough.

Boasson Hagen, who won Stage 7 on Friday, finished second in Stage 8, a 130-mile race that ended in a sprint. His Columbia-Highroad teammate Kanstantsin Siutsou of Belarus won the stage, taking off on a solo, uncatchable breakaway about 10 miles from the finish.

Still, it was not a bad 36 hours for Boasson Hagen, one of the youngest and most successful riders at this three-week race. Turning 22 on Sunday, he is the fifth-youngest rider in the race and he is already beating some of the world’s best cyclists.

“I’m really terrible at history, so I don’t really think about all the great riders who are here or what it means to beat them,” he said. “But I probably have not realized yet what this means. I did call my parents to tell them about it, though.”

Read the article written by By JULIET MACUR on Nytimes.com