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Torstein Træen will receive many benefits from his seizing of the race lead in the Vuelta a España on Thursday.
He will have the kudos of his fellow riders, the plaudits of his team, the admiration of many cycling fans and, very likely, a big bonus or an eventual salary boost as a result of his hold of the red jersey.
Not many riders get to lead a grand tour and, when they do, it marks a new high in their career and their reputation.
But, according to Træen, it might also lead to a special celebration at the end of the race.
“It feels a bit unexpected, maybe,” the Bahrain Victorious rider said in the post-stage interview on Thursday.
“Two days ago, I was talking to my other Norwegian friend here, Johannes [Staune-Mittet]. I was talking about the Norwegian GC, and he said: ‘You’re a loser, because you’re so close in the GC.’
“And then I said: ‘When I am in the red jersey after the Andorra stage, I don’t think you’ll call me a loser anymore!’ Now I think he owes me some beers in Madrid.”
Predicting the race lead and naming the day in question is an impressive feat.
It was by no means a given: Træen was sitting 35 seconds off the overall lead earlier this week, and that rose to a 58 second deficit after Wednesday’s time trial.
He seemed out of the picture for the red jersey but everything changed when he infiltrated a large breakaway group early on during Thursday’s stage from Olot to Pal. Andorra.
With overnight leader Jonas Vingegaard apparently willing to temporarily relinquish the race lead, the gap opened up. Træen was best placed of those breakaway riders overall and, in finishing a fine second on the stage behind the day’s winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), he took over at the top.
That meant a lot, and even more so due to health issues he has experienced.
‘I was a bit unsure if I would ever be good again’
Traeen finished second on the stage, 54 seconds behind Jay Vine (Photo: Josep LAGO / AFP)
Three years ago the Norwegian went through a very stressful time. He had undergone a routine doping control in March of that year at the Volta a Catalunya. The test results revealed high levels of hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, which in turn led to a diagnosis of testicular cancer.
Being subjected to the test was a stroke of good fortune. He was feeling fine, performing so well that he won the mountains classification at the Tour of the Alps. Had he not done the doping control in March, the diagnosis of the disease might have happened at a much later point in time.
And while surgeons had to remove his left testicle, the tumor was limited to that area only. That meant he didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy, and he was able to return to competition that August.
Træen won a stage of the Tour de Suisse last season, his first WorldTour victory, and then performed on an even bigger stage on Thursday.
His past health scare made him appreciate it all the more, and so too another medical issue earlier this year.
“To be honest it is a bit special, especially this year, because I had five weeks of concussion in March,” he explained.
“And at this point I was a bit unsure if I would ever be good again because I was there on the couch looking at the ceiling for five weeks.”
That was a big blow.
“To be honest that was harder than to have cancer,” he said. “So now I have been through quite a lot. It has been I would say a small rollercoaster.”
It has, but now things are on the up.
‘I don’t know how far I can go’
Traen previously won stage 4 of last year’s Tour de Suisse, a major boost for him (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Now 30 years of age, Træen went in the Vuelta in good shape. Fourth on the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos was a very solid result, and so too seventh overall.
He wanted to do something major in the grand tour, although he admitted going clear in the break was not initially about chasing the red jersey.
“We knew it was a possibility that we would go for the stage. Since it was a climb at the start, it was pretty easy to come in the group if you have the legs,” he said.
“So then when you are in the group you just hope you are the strongest. It turned out Jay Vine was the strongest, so I had to fight for red instead of both [the jersey and the stage].”
That objective was a big success: he jumped 25 places in the overall standings and now has a 31 second lead over the next rider, the French Bruno Armirail.
It is, he says, a very special moment for him.
“It was a bit unexpected, so obviously a nice surprise.”
Friday’s stage will be hugely memorable. Few riders get a chance to lead a grand tour and he will soak up the atmosphere when the race rolls out of Olot.
He’ll be excited, and likely more than a little nervous too.
That’s completely understandable. All eyes will be on him Friday and the stage is one of the toughest of the whole race. It clocks up over 4200 meters of climbing and concludes atop the Cerler Huesca la Magia, a category one ascent.
Given that parcours, he’ll hope that his 2:33 buffer over Vingegaard will be enough.
“I don’t know how far I can go,” he said, with a laugh.
“Maybe tomorrow already Jonas [Vingegaard] already takes it back. That is also a possibility.”
It is, and so he’ll savor every minute.
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