When he least expected it, and after 12 runner-up finishes, 35 WorldTour top-10s and 1085 days since his last victory, Tobias Halland Johannessen finally claimed what he had been desperately searching for: a win, and not just that, a Grand Tour stage win. No one could take this away from him.
The elation couldn't have been stronger for the Norwegian at the finish, sitting in disbelief after winning a two-up sprint – yes, you read that right – and conquering the spectacular Vuelta a España final day in Granada ahead of a valiant Alessandro Romele, and screaming "yes" at the top of his lungs as he reached each and every member of Uno-X Mobility staff dotted around the finish line.
Long one of the peloton's nearly men, just 24 hours ago Johannessen had been left in tears when Uno-X's attempt at one of the all-time great breakaway triumphs failed atop Collado del Alguacil. Few places leave pro bike riders as vulnerable as the top of a mountain, but after a day when your team put six riders in the breakaway all for you, and you fail to bring it home, tears are the only logical end result.
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More tears followed on Sunday night, but ones of joy, for a rider who at times admitted that he didn't know if this day would ever come. And after the perfect day for him went amiss and he looked set to leave this Vuelta with two more runner-up placings, when he least expected it, Johannessen had his day.
"I feel like sometimes it's good to be second, but you can never raise your hands, and you can never get that outburst of feelings that you get when you get a victory," Johannessen said when asked by Cyclingnews in his winner's press conference if this long road made it all worth it.
"When you get enough second places, you just get tired of it, and yeah, it gives me a lot of joy on how we raced yesterday. But the finish didn't give me any joy at all because I was second.
"I've been chasing that victory for three years now, and to finally burst that bubble, it feels quite crazy. You start to believe that you cannot win bike races after such a long period with, I think, a lot of good results, but I felt like I was a winner in my head, and I trained every day to win bike races, not to be second.
"So I don't care about second places, as much as it's a good result. It's such a special feeling to raise my hands and to see the joy of the team staff and the riders. It's just something else. So I hope this will be the first of more victories because I want to chase this feeling again."
It wasn't even him they were racing for on stage 21, with the Norwegian squad looking to give Magnus Cort the perfect send-off before his retirement, but as he found himself in the moves and his Danish teammate gave him the green light, Johannessen locked in like he never has before.
"I really didn't expect it today. We really wanted to make the last day of Cort's career special and try for him, but in the last lap I heard I was in the front group and I tried not to pull in case Cort came back," said Johannessen.
"But then in the end I saw we had a gap and I was so focussed on the win. I've been knocking on that door for a long time; it feels really special to do it today. I don't know what to say; it's so special."
In fact, Johannessen was able to utilise the plan Uno-X had formed on the team bus that morning for Cort in the finale, coming through the last corner in perfect position to narrowly hold off a charging Romele.
"We had talked about how we wanted to do it with Cort, and that was to deliver him first into the last corner," he said.
"I remembered that from the meeting, and I told myself in my head that I'm not going to do anything before I try to be in the last corner in first position and go full gas from there. So I just cannot believe that I could do it today."
A popular winner, Johannessen's triumph brings Uno-X their second victory of the Vuelta, having already helped Andreas Leknessund take his maiden Grand Tour stage from the breakaway on stage 7.
The Norwegian team have won stages at all three Grand Tours in 2026, and are one of the best stage-hunting outfits in all of the sport. Johannessen gave huge credit to the team's culture for both his career and how their great days at the Vuelta have played out.
"We have such a special team feeling to be in that bus with your mates. Even today, my goal was to do everything I could to get the victory for Cort because it was his last day," he said.
"I think you cannot buy this feeling; you cannot buy riders' desire for it, both for performance, but also just for the enjoyment of being a cyclist. I don't think I would have been a cyclist without Uno-X.
"We showed yesterday that we are capable of good things, and then we could finish it off today.. I'm extremely proud that I could give the victory back to the team after yesterday because they deserved it a lot, and then today we can celebrate. It's the perfect ending."
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