TOBIAS JOHANNESSEN

The Norwegian who is the latest prodigy to come from mountain biking

Tobias who? Halland Johannessen. He rides for the Uno-X development team, with his twin brother Anders. This is their first year full-time in road cycling, after crossing over from mountain biking. Tobias is from Drøbak, a town just south of Oslo.

Should I have heard of him?

Depending on how much you spend watching under-23 bike racing, yes you should have done. He finished second overall at the Baby Giro, and came second on two stages, in his first year on the road. Anders finished eighth on GC, too.

Did he enjoy himself?

Yes. Tobias told Procycling: “It was really fun, and we as a team did not expect to be in the mix. It’s our first season together, so it was a really cool experience. We worked really well as a team, so after the first stages, it became our goal to finish on the podium. Ayuso [Juan, race winner] was very strong, but we felt we could do some cool things in the peloton.”

How’s the Uno-X team?

It’s the Norwegian development team’s first year as well, emerging from a training group. But after just one year, Tobias and Anders are already graduating to the senior team, which has aspirations of reaching the WorldTour. He said: “We are always given the opportunity to race by the team management. We always try to be at the front, even if it’s a much bigger race. We are really lucky to be in this team and be able to race all out.”

How did he get into cycling?

Tobias lived a couple of miles outside town, so he and his brother started cycling to school and then all around. “We have always been riding together, and it has always been more fun. I don’t remember when we started, because we were always cycling around our kitchen table at home.”

What are his goals?

Races like the Ardennes classics, while his heroes are Julian Alaphilippe and Mathieu van der Poel. He thinks he will only benefit from his mountain biking training.