Neo-professionals to watch out for in 2024: Per Strand Hagenes - already on the road to success

His English is quite broad, quite unusual for a Scandinavian. But apart from that, Per Strand Hagenes is about exactly what you would imagine a Norwegian to be. Tall, rather reserved, but with a healthy self-confidence. And that's why he said in an interview on the homepage of his team Visma | Lease a Bike after his promotion from the in-house development team to the World Tour team: "I expect the promotion to go smoothly."

And there's a good reason for that. 2024 will be Hagenes' first year as a professional. But that doesn't mean that he hasn't already left his mark on the field of established riders. Most recently at the Münsterland Giro, for example. Hagenes crossed the finish line in front of Münster Castle as if he had had nothing to do with the decision. But it was actually the last lap, on which he attacked out of an elite leading group around former world champion Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and his team colleague and newly crowned European champion Christophe Laporte around two kilometres before the end and was never caught again.

Hagenes wants to become a classics specialist

"It was only 200 metres later," said Hagenes after the race, that he realised that he was already through and had just finished. most valuable victory of his career to date had driven in.

But even before this victory, the 20-year-old Hagenes spoke of a "top season" and an "all in all successful year" at a race in the Netherlands. Shortly before that, he had not been able to cope at all with the Tour de l'Avenir, which is extremely important for young riders, finishing only 106th out of 119 starters. And the Giro Next Gen a few weeks earlier was not exactly to Hagene's taste either.

However, the path seems to be different for the Norwegian. He is not a born cyclist. Instead, he wants to specialise in one-day races. "If I could take part in the Belgian classics next year, that would be fantastic," said Hagenes in September. "My long-term goal is to keep up with the best in these races, especially the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, because those are my favourite races."

Visma strikes before Hagenes' World Championship title

Hagenes first showed that he can deliver in difficult conditions in a professional field at the Ronde van Drenthe in March. The cold and rain didn't bother him - he won his first race as a soloist, in which teams from the World Tour and Pro Series were also at the start. A good two months later, he went one better and won a stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk with cobblestones and a few waves in the course.

One level lower, Hagenes is also strong enough to celebrate success in the time trial. The Norwegian won a time trial at the Olympia's Tour in the Netherlands, which is reserved for teams from the Continental Tour, but ultimately this also only speaks to the fact that he has a big engine and can sometimes stand it alone in the wind. He also proved this in his first year with Jumbo-Visma's Devo team: in 2022, he won the junior version of Paris-Tours and a stage of the Oberösterreich-Rundfahrt as a soloist.

Just one year earlier, in 2021, Per Strand Hagenes became junior world champion on the road. At the time, he was still riding for the junior team from his hometown of Sandnes in south-west Norway. However, he already had a contract with Jumbo's Devo team in his pocket. The Sykkelmagasinet reported in July of that year that an agreement had been reached between the team and driver during a training camp in Slovenia.

From skier to professional cyclist

Until then, Hagenes had not had much to do with cycling. He did become Norwegian junior champion two years in a row, but that was more or less from the cold. Not just literally, because like almost every Norwegian, Hagenes began his athletic career as a cross-country skier. He was active on the long poles until 2020, and in January the FIS World Ski Federation listed him as the winner of a Norwegian junior race over 10 kilometres freestyle.

Robbert de Groot, then as now head of young talent at Visma, said in a press release when the contract was signed: "Per is a very talented rider. He's a great kid who is probably a rider for the classics. He has an athletic background as a cross-country skier, but now he will focus on road cycling. Hopefully we can let him take steps in his development as well."

Two and a half years later, it is clear to see: Per Strand Hagenes has definitely taken the next steps in his development. The only open question is how many more will follow.

>> Neo-professionals to watch out for in 2024: Emil Herzog

Per Strand Hagenes

• was born on 10 July 2003
• holds a Norwegian passport
• is 1.85 m tall
• has previously driven for Sandnes SK Junior (2020 and 2021) and the Jumbo-Visa Development Team (2022 and 2023)
• will ride for the World Tour team Visma | Lease a Bike from 2024 and has signed a contract there until the end of 2026