On the fourth day of racing at the PostNord Tour of Denmark, the first victory not signed by Wout van Aert and Visma Lease a Bike arrives. The one who conquered the fourth stage of the short Scandinavian stage race, the Rudkøbing-Faaborg of 172.6 kilometers, was Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility) who, after managing to enter the day's breakaway, dropped all his companions with a finisher's attack carried out 2,700 meters from the finish line.

Behind the Norwegian, skillful at striking with what could now have become his trademark (in the same way, last year, he had conquered his first professional victory at the Tour of Norway), an excellent Tommaso Bessega (Polti VisitMalta) and the tough Finnish champion Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team) finished, while the group of big names including the always-leading van Aert closed just a short distance away with a gap of 20 seconds from the day's winner.

THE RACE

Another day and another sparkling start in Denmark with attacks and counterattacks that, from the very beginning, follow one another without interruption. The first concrete attempt of certain interest bears the signature of Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek), Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarche), Ashlin Barry (Visma Lease a Bike), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility), Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Stian Rosenlund (Airtox-Carl Ras) Hjalmar Klyver (Lucky Sport Cycling Team), Kasper Andersen and Mads Andersen (Swatt Club), Morten Nørtoft (Team ColoQuick), Noah Lindholm and Anders Foldager (Denmark) but, after passing through the first sprint of the day at Rudkøbing (1st Teutenberg) and having covered 25 kilometers with a minimal advantage, all thirteen are reabsorbed by the peloton pulled with particular conviction by Alpecin-Premier Tech.

Without knowing pauses, once this action is neutralized, the attacks immediately resume to try to bring away a new breakaway but, despite good intentions and the iron will of many, in the next thirty kilometers no one succeeds in the attempt. Thus we arrive in compact formation to sprint for the bonuses at the second sprint in Rudkøbing where Henrik Pedersen (fourth in the standings with the same time as Christophe Laporte) momentarily steals the third position in the standings from the Frenchman, surpassing him in a sprint that sees the race leader Wout van Aert close in third.

Having archived this fleeting cameo, the big names once again leave the stage to the attackers who, just after the 100-kilometer mark to the finish, give life to a new series of attacks from which finally, after about 80 kilometers of struggle, the day's breakaway takes shape. Part of it are the oldest rider on the startlist Christopher Juul-Jensen (Denmark), Stian Rosenlund (Airtox-Carl Ras), Sebastien Grignard (Lotto Intermarchè), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility), the Finnish champion Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team), Tommaso Bessega (Polti VisitMalta) and Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club) who, driven by good spirit of cooperation, quickly accumulate a margin of over two minutes.

At this point, behind them, however, Visma Lease a Bike, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Team Flanders-Baloise get to work which, regulating the pace of the group, control the gap with respect to the breakaway riders, preventing it from assuming exorbitant proportions. The seven thus enter ahead of everyone in the final circuit of Faaborg where, on the occasion of the first passage on the Nørreskov climb (1st Källberg), Carollo loses contact leaving six ahead to continue their adventure. In the second of three laps of 14 kilometers, while ahead Källberg takes other points valid for the best climber classification, Alpecin-Premier Tech impresses a consistent change of pace in the group so much so that, at the bell, the pursuers are traveling no longer with two minutes to recover but rather 1'20" away.

With the group's comeback becoming even more concrete thanks to the intervention of Visma Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Unibet Rose Rockets, ahead Källberg repeatedly forces the pace managing first to distance Rosenlund and then, nine kilometers from the finish, to fly off solo. His action, however, lasts only three kilometers because Bessega, Juul-Jensen, Ingebrigtsen and Grignard return to his wheel reforming a quintet that, due to the acceleration slightly further back by Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets), at -4 kilometers from the finish finds itself with no more than ten seconds on a group that has meanwhile become significantly more select.

This gap inspires, 2,700 meters from the line, the finisher's attack by Ingebrigtsen who, surprising his companions and making his qualities as a passer-by prevail, manages in the end to turn into reality the dream of his second career victory as a professional after the one obtained at the defunct Tour of Norway in 2025. Fifteen seconds after him, a positive Bessega equals the best career placement in a professional race, obtaining, in the sprint of the beaten riders, a convincing second place ahead of Källberg and Grignard who, like him, cannot help but be disappointed by the missed opportunity in the final.

The group too, perhaps also due to the lack of interest in closing the gap on the part of the formation in the blue jersey, misses a nice opportunity to play for a new victory in a sprint and, in the end, must be content with the supporting positions behind the day's attackers to whom full credit must be given, with the group at certain moments no more than a few hundred meters away, for having believed in it until the end.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility) 3:46:46

2. Tommaso Bessega (Team Polti VisitMalta) +0:15

3. Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team) +0:15

4. Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Intermarchè) +0:15

5. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Denmark) +0:17

6. Jensen Plowright (Alpecin - Premier Tech) +0:20

7. Toon Aerts (Lotto Intermarchè) +0:20

8. Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) +0:20

9. Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) +0:20

10. Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:20

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 16:52:22

2. Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:21

3. Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) +0:28

4. Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:29

5. Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) +0:39

6. Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) +0:45

7. Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:46

8. Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) +1:00

9. Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility) +1:06

10. Matyáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +1:14

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)

Mountain Classification: Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen (Give Steel)

Best Young Rider Classification: Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility)