Andreas Leknessund

“The Dog” as he is affectionately known by his teammates, Andreas has spent the past two years with the team as he now enters his third year in Team DSM colours. The new year is off the back of a strong 2022 campaign where he took three victories and competed in his first Grand Tour – the Tour de France.

Andreas’ journey into cycling is one that almost came about by accident for the Tromsø native, who claims to be the current professional cyclist who was born closest to the north pole.

A competent and strong cross-country skier, he also did lots of other “normal sports” and never really thought about cycling as a sport itself, but he jokingly admits he was “really bad” at all of the other sports so looked for something to do beside his skiing.

His dad and sister rode bikes so Andreas soon followed in their footsteps and found out he enjoyed it, excitedly joining a cycling club at the age of 13. From there it was a gradual move over to doing more and more cycling, and at 16 whilst applying for school, he coincidentally applied for a sports school with a focus on cycling, in the area of Oslo. Getting his spot at the school, things became more serious for Andreas and since then cycling has “been his number one”.

Andreas likes all aspects of cycling and the fact in some ways it is both an individual and team sport, plus the fact that it can be really social when you go out on training rides with friends.

“You have the individual thing which I can appreciate, that it is yourself putting in the work and the hours on the bike, but you also have the nice aspects with the team and training mates – it’s a really good balance and separates it from other sports.”

Reflecting on his career so far, Andreas immediately can’t put his finger on one exact best moment and instead states that it is the period between the Tour de Suisse, where he took his first World Tour level win, and the Arctic Race of Norway which he won the final stage and the overall at – with his first appearance at the Tour de France sandwiched in between.

Of course, for him riding his first Tour de France was special, as it is a race “every kid dreams of doing” but when he ponders on it more, his overall win at the Arctic Race of Norway was the highlight.

“The race was one of the reasons I started cycling. I feel a bit clichéd talking of it being my home race but honestly it was so cool. I have so many pictures on my phone collecting bottles from when I was younger. To take the win in the way I did, it was a special feeling.”

Andreas would describe himself as “laid-back” as he doesn’t overthink things at times and takes things more as they come, but equally he also describes himself as “energetic” and that he has sudden spurts of energy depending on his mood. He also says he’s “forgetful” which he jokes makes him seem a bit simple on occasion and as a bonus, “ginger”, for his distinguishable red hair.

Away from the bike, Andreas enjoys chilling and catching up with his friends. Equally, he also likes to spend some time watching some Norwegian reality shows to take his mind off everything or honing his juggling (diabolo) skills, which he has a particular talent for.