Leknessund, the surprisingly red-headed leader of the Giro d’Italia who was born next to the North Pole

native of Tromso (Norway), Andreas Leknessund (23 years old) This is undoubtedly now the great news of Italy is spinning. The boy runner DSM groupwho is playing his third season in cycling’s highest division, World Tour, and the one that comes from a ‘minor’ formation that does a great job and has a more noticeable presence on the road with each passing day, One-Xwill have the honor from this Wednesday to wear the ‘pink jersey’ covering the best riders in the Giro d’Italia.

Who will tell him, perhaps the professional cyclist born closest to North Pole and at first it seemed that his future as an athlete lay in cross-country skiing? His father and sister rode bicycles, so Andreas followed in their footsteps and discovered that he really enjoyed pedaling, also because sports that could be considered ‘normal’ he claimed to be pretty bad

So,’The dog’, as he was affectionately known by his teammates, joined a cycling club with great enthusiasm. Seeing that he liked it and could do it well, Andreas, who was 16 years old, asked his parents to enroll him in a sports school where cycling was a pampered sport, and that if how they enrolled him in a nearby school. Osloday when cycling started to become a priority for him”, he acknowledges on his team’s website.

“Cycling has an individual aspect, that you work and spend hours on the bike, but it also has a pleasant team aspect and training days with colleagues. It’s a good balance”, stood the one of tromso when asked what he likes most about cycling.

Reflecting on his career so far, Andreas highlights above all between June and July last year, when he won a stage of tour of switzerlandplayed his first Tour de France -the 5th best young man finished- and already in August he won the Arctic race of his country. “Every kid dreams of riding the Tour, but I have to say the Arctic Race was one of the reasons I started cycling. I have so many pictures on my phone collecting jerry cans when I was young. Achieving success the way I did it was a special feeling,” he recalled.

SIX QUICK QUESTIONS

Athlete he admires: Romain Bardet
Favorite race: Tour de France
Favorite food: Hamburgers
Natural talent: Juggling
What do you watch on TV: Norwegian reality shows
Nickname: The Dog

Andreas would describe himself as “relaxed” because he doesn’t think too much about things at times and takes the ‘bumps’ as they come. He is a practical man, but he also describes himself as both “energetic” and “forgetful”, earning him more than a few jokes from his teammates.

Away from the bike, Andreas enjoys being with his friends and spends as much time as he can watching some Norwegian reality shows to distract himself from it all or hone his juggling skills , because he says he has a special talent for it.