Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) won stage two of the Tour de Suisse. He was ahead of all the contesters and solely took on the final crossing line. In a hilarious turn of events, Alberto Bettiol, who was oblivious of the fact that Andreas had finished before him, threw his fists in the air to celebrate his victory. His glory was only short-lived, as he soon realized his mistake.
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The EF Education-EasyPost rider out sprinted his rivals. He took the lead from the likes of Michael Matthews (Team BikeExhange-Jayco) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) only to be outrun by Andreas Leknessund without him even realizing it. The 28-year-old termed it as an honest mistake, nonetheless, he was still happy:
I beat my Italian friend so I was still happy, I don’t know what happened – as you can see, my radio is off – and now my friends will all be joking with me today and tomorrow.
Bettiol is not the first person to have such a short-lived victory, he followed in the footsteps of Annemiek van Vleuten. She thought that she had won the Tokyo Olympics, only to realize that the gold medal had already been taken by Anna Kiesenhofer.
“Who’s going to break the news to him?” 😳
Alberto Bettiol thinks he’s won the stage… but Andreas Leknessund had already soloed to victory
At least Matteo Trentin found it funny 😂#TourdeSuisse2022 | @MATTEOTRENTIN | @AlbertoBettiol pic.twitter.com/ckieokrQ2Y
— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 13, 2022
While Wout van Aert did the complete opposite and celebrated his win a little prematurely. Hence, he lost to David Gaudu at Critérium du Dauphiné. However, the Italian is content with his performance and is happy that they are back on the track, as he said:
It was a really tough stage, and we almost won. Jonas was in the front. Yesterday he wasn’t feeling good, but today he showed that he was. I had all the team around me in the final and I think after the bad performance from yesterday, we are back on track.
Although 2022 has not been in the favor of the athlete, his performance at the Monday match has yet to be his best since returning from prolonged illness. He explained:
I didn’t race much in the first part of the year because I had some health problems with COVID and stuff, but I’m really, really happy. I’ve just started and I think I will improve a lot during the Tour de Suisse. This year it’s really tough and I think that’s good for me
Bettiol confirmed that he is approaching Tour de France:
I just started my approach to the Tour de France, my big appointment of the year
It is safe to say that his friends and family will have a good laugh at his actions today, we do hope that the rider gets to cross the finish line in first place sooner rather than later.
Also Read: Peter Stetina Wins Belgian Waffle Ride Despite A Broken Wrist
Featured Image Via YouTube/ Cycling Pro Net
