Norwegian Tour de France riders showed their support for the country’s footballers on Saturday ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against England.
The seven remaining members of the Uno-X Mobility team in the Tour de France, two of whom are Danish, wore Norwegian football shirts ahead of Saturday’s eighth stage from Perigueux to Bergerac in the Dordogne.
They then performed the Viking punch, popularized by the country’s football fans during the World Cup, to cheers from the crowd in Perigueux.
After getting a boost from Norwegian teammate Torstein Traeen who wore the race leader’s coveted yellow jersey for two days in the Tour before crashing with a concussion and broken ribs, the cyclists are backing the footballers to keep their own dream alive.
“It’s crazy. What the Norwegian team has done so far is great,” said Jonas Abrahamsen, who won a stage in the Tour last year. AFP.
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“Everything is a bonus now, but hopefully they can get to the final.
“Anything is possible.”
Tobias Johannessen, who finished sixth in the Tour last year but is 13th this time after struggling in the Pyrenees two days ago, said he was looking forward to the Tour’s rest day on Monday.
And there is one way it can be even better.
“I think if we could go into the first rest day while we were still in the World Cup, that would be the perfect scenario,” he said.
“So the mood is high for Norway now.”
Published on July 11, 2026
