{"id":759751,"date":"2026-06-25T07:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T07:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/759751\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T07:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T07:35:13","slug":"his-form-is-not-where-its-been-at-his-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/759751\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHis form is not where it’s been at his best\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBefore the official announcement, TV 2<\/a> cycling commentator Magnus Drivenes, expert Mads Kaggestad and former pro Alexander Kristoff<\/a> were asked to pick their own Uno-X Tour squads. Kristoff, who wore yellow at the Tour and won four stages during his career, included Cort. Kaggestad also found room for him. Drivenes did not.Cort\u2019s pedigree weighed against uneven 2026 form<\/p>\n

Drivenes selected Andreas Leknessund instead of Cort, alongside Halland Johannessen, Abrahamsen, Waerenskjold, Kron, Skaarseth, Traeen and Charmig. He still made clear that leaving out a rider of Cort\u2019s standing was a difficult call. \u201cIt almost hurts to leave out a rider of Magnus Cort\u2019s calibre,\u201d Drivenes said in conversation with TV 2.<\/p>\n

Cort\u2019s 2026 has not lacked highlights. He won Stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya, finished fifth on Stage 4 of the same race, placed 13th at Eschborn-Frankfurt and sprinted to third on Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse behind Jhonatan Narvaez and Xandro Meurisse after the leading pair narrowly survived in front of the peloton.<\/p>\n

Away from those peaks, though, his results sheet has been uneven. Cort abandoned the Itzulia Basque Country, finished 100th at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and had several quiet days in Switzerland outside that Stage 3 podium.<\/p>\n

For Drivenes, even the Tour de Suisse result did not fully settle the question. \u201cHe could easily have won there if two of his teammates had not had to abandon the day before,\u201d Drivenes said. \u201cHowever, he struggled during the stage and had to let the peloton go several times, and that indicates that his form is not where it’s been at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cort\u2019s 2025 campaign ended early after problems with persistent fatigue, adding another layer to the debate around his current level. His best 2026 results justify the faith, but the full picture explains why his place was not treated as untouchable.<\/p>\n

\"Magnus<\/p>\n

Magnus Cort Nielsen punches the air in celebration after his stage 2 win at the 2026 Volta a Catalunya<\/p>\n

Uno-X depth leaves no easy calls<\/p>\n

Uno-X ultimately chose Cort and Charmig, while Leknessund and Anders Halland Johannessen missed out. Charmig strengthened his own case by winning Stage 2 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, while Cort brings Tour experience and a rare racing profile few in the team can match.<\/p>\n

At his best, Cort can survive hilly days, read breakaways and finish from reduced groups, a valuable mix for a team chasing another July breakthrough after Jonas Abrahamsen\u2019s Stage 11 victory last year.<\/p>\n

Halland Johannessen remains the centre of the project after finishing sixth overall at last year\u2019s Tour. He has backed that up with a strong 2026 campaign, including fourth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, second at Milano-Torino, third at the Itzulia Basque Country and fifth in his final Tour warm-up race.<\/p>\n

Abrahamsen, Kron, Traeen, Skaarseth and Waerenskjold complete a squad with options across different terrain. Waerenskjold\u2019s recent form was also discussed by the TV 2 panel, but his strength in the team time trial and sprint potential made his selection difficult to dismiss.<\/p>\n

Cort now arrives at the Tour with his reputation intact but his current level still under scrutiny. Uno-X have backed his experience, finishing instinct and Grand Tour pedigree in a lineup strong enough to leave proven options at home.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before the official announcement, TV 2 cycling commentator Magnus Drivenes, expert Mads Kaggestad and former pro Alexander…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[170284,49,48,635,216430,82,636,14508],"class_list":["post-759751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-alexander-kristoff","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-magnus-cort-nielsen","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france","tag-uno-x-mobility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}