Info about Andreas Leknessund
- Date of birth: 21/05/1999
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Height/weight: 1.85 m, 72 kg
Teams
- 2018 Uno-X Norwegian Development Team (from 11 May)
- 2019 Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
- 2020 Uno-X Norwegian Development Team
- 2021 Team DSM
- 2022 Team DSM
- 2023 Team DSM
Andreas Leknessund, 23 years old, Team DSM
Norway is the coming power in cycling: long represented in endurance sports mainly by cross-country skiers, the Scandinavians are now also shaking up the races on tarmac. Of the many strong young riders from the land of the fjords, Andreas Leknessund is probably the most advanced in his development.
The 23-year-old professional from the Dutch team DSM is a typical classics rider: strong against the clock (he beat the eventual world champion Tobias Foss in the national championships) and just as strong uphill. His contract expires at the end of the season. He will want to continue to show that he is a future winner, which he has already proven with overall victory in the Arctic Race of Norway and a stage win in the Tour de Suisse.
Then the man from Trömsö could recommend himself for a top contract with a captain's role. He wants to be successful in the Ardennes Classics and also try himself out as a classification rider. If he dawdles, he is in danger of being overtaken by young compatriots such as the Halland twins Tobias and Anders or the 17-year-old climbing talent Jörgen Nordhagen.
Cycling talents: TOUR shows 10 promotion candidates for 2023
TOUR editor Andreas Kublik takes a look at ten young riders who will be worth watching in 2023. We present the individual candidates in our series. Almost all of the selected riders are already under contract with a World Tour team. Signing cyclists at a very young age is a trend that has recently caught on with the top teams.
Numerous youngsters skip the U23 class and go straight into the professional ranks. The most prominent example of this development is Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian was under contract with Deceuninck - Quick Step in 2019 at the age of just 18. Since then, he has worked his way up to the top of the world rankings, including becoming road world champion in 2022.
Many top teams also have their own junior racing team, where they train their talents and later bring them into the professional squad. A prime example of this is the Groupama-FDJ team in 2023, which has recruited all seven new riders for this year from the Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
