Nicknamed 'the Hippo from Mandal', Wærenskjold is one of the biggest men in the peloton — and one of its fastest, as he proved by out-muscling the cobbled-classics elite to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2025. Riding his fourth straight Tour with top-10 sprint finishes in each of the last three, the former U23 world time trial champion is hunting the bunch-kick breakthrough that would complete the set.
Palmarès
- Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner (2025)
- U23 World Time Trial Champion (2022)
- Deutschland Tour overall winner (2025)
- Tour of Belgium overall winner (2024)
- Norwegian National Time Trial Champion (2023, 2024)
Cut-out factAt 1.95m and 92kg he is built more like a rugby forward than a cyclist — hence the affectionate Norwegian nickname 'Flodhesten fra Mandal' (the Hippo from Mandal).
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Tobias Halland Johannessen, Jonas Abrahamsen, Anthon Charmig, Magnus Cort, Anders Halland Johannessen, Anders Skaarseth, Torstein Træen — see the full Uno-X Mobility team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2) after a reference photograph — source: c8.alamy.com, author: see source, license: see source.
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