This is the first time that the Norwegian cycling team has participated in the world’s most prestigious bicycle race.

– This is sports history. We’ve been invited to one of the biggest sporting events in the world. I am very proud to be given this opportunitysaid Uno-X boss Jens Haugland to NTB.

– This is a big day for the Norwegian team and sport, he continued.

Alexander Kristoff has been brought into the Uno-X ahead of the upcoming cycling season. Now he can look forward to a new Tour de France adventure.

Take away pizzas

Tour de France organizers only confirmed on Wednesday that Uno-X had received one of two wild cards for the 2023 edition of the race. The second, unsurprisingly, went to Israel Premier-Tech.

Uno-X manager Jens Haugland told NTB that messages about participation came from organizers at ASO on New Year’s Day. It causes celebration.

– First I brought pizza to children at Pellestova. Then I pop the champagne, he laughs.

The decision didn’t come completely unexpectedly. For a long time, there was speculation that the Uno-X was doing well.

– At the same time, it is far from sitting down with the feeling that we can participate, until we get confirmation that we have been invited. It seemed surreal to a kid from Trøndelag, says Haugland.

No terminals

– What does this mean for your team?

– It means we were invited because we are pretty good at what we do. Now we travel to France with ambition. We travel to perform. This is not a terminal for us, said the Uno-X boss.

– What’s the next station?

– The next boundary we will cross is that we will chase our big dream in terms of results in the Tour de France.

The three-week race spanned some 190 countries and was attended by nearly 150 million people. Haugland stressed that the exposure value provided by Tour participation was immense.