“I was so dizzy at the finish, I couldn’t lift my arms off the bike.”
At the finish line of Stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset had nothing left.
The Norwegian spent some 85 kilometres off the front of the peloton solo, and reached the line in Poligny too exhausted to celebrate in style.
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“I know my boyfriend will be so angry at me for not celebrating,” she laughed afterwards. “But I couldn’t. I could not lift my arms off the bike. It was impossible,” she said in the post-race interview.
Instead, Haugset barely managed a one-handed victory salute, completely spent and overwhelmed by what had just happened.
In addition to delivering fans one of the most remarkable solo rides the race has ever seen, Haugset also delivered Norway several historic firsts.
With her performance, Haugset became the first Norwegian to win a stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the first Norwegian rider to pull on the celebrated yellow jersey, and the author of what race broadcasters described as the longest successful solo victory in the history of the women’s Tour.
When asked if winning a Tour stage was a dream come true, Haugset admitted that she’d never even considered the possibility.
“I feel like I have to say yes… but I never thought it was possible. So sitting here… it’s unreal.”
So who is the woman who has suddenly become one of the biggest stories of this year’s Tour?
1. She comes from a tiny Norwegian village
Born on 1 March 1999, Haugset comes from Berkåk, a village of just 1,000 people in Trøndelag, central Norway.
2. She served in the military after high school
Haugset entered the Norwegian military after finishing high school.
Norway has mandatory conscription for men and women, although not every eligible citizen is selected to serve. Those chosen typically complete an initial 12-month period of military service before becoming part of the reserves.
3. She’s a former runner
As a child, Haugset’s passion had been football. She played throughout high school and later found success as a middle-distance runner.
Representing Rennebu IL and later Strindheim IL, her recorded personal bests include:
- 4min 49.10sec for 1,500 metres
- 10min 19.9sec for an indoor 3,000 metres
- 10min 27.05sec for an outdoor 3,000 metres
- 17min 40.46sec for 5,000 metres
(Image credit: Getty Images)
4. Injuries changed the course of her career
“Where I come from, a small place in Norway, it was never an option to start cycling. Instead, we played football, handball, cross-country skiing, we went hiking and so on,” says Haugset.
Instead, she came to cycling, as so many before her have, through injury.
Haugset has explained that two stress fractures in her lower back within six months forced her away from running. Looking for a way to stay fit, she spent countless hours on the indoor trainer before eventually buying a road bike to train outside.
Then she entered a Norwegian Cup race, and the rest, as they say, is history.
5. She only started racing bikes at 22
While many WorldTour riders have been racing since childhood, Haugset entered her first cycling race in 2021, at the age of 22.
She signed with Team Coop-Hitec Products later that year and raced with the programme through the end of 2025.
Her rise to the top level of the sport has been remarkably quick. Within five years of pinning on her first race number, she’s now wearing the maillot jaune.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
6. She’s quietly become one of Norway’s strongest time triallists
Haugset has collected four consecutive medals at the Norwegian elite national time trial championships between 2023 and 2026 —three bronze and one silver.
Other key career highlights include winning the Norwegian road race championships with a solo breakaway earlier this season, and a fourth place in the GC at the 2024 Vuelta a Extremadura Féminas.
Those performances highlighted the engine that powered her remarkable Tour solo today.
7. She raced Paris-Roubaix with a fractured hip
Paris-Roubaix Femmes is already one of cycling’s toughest races, and in 2025, Haugset’s ride was even more painful.
After crashing with 60 kilometres remaining in the race, Haugset climbed back on her bike to finish the race. Only afterwards did scans reveal she had fractured her hip.
She later admitted that, in hindsight, continuing probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but in the middle of Paris-Roubaix, all she wanted to do was reach the velodrome.
“When you’re in a race, you want to finish,” she explained. She was subsequently sidelined for approximately two and a half months before returning later in the season and eventually earning a WorldTour contract with Uno-X Mobility.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
8. She was originally selected as a climbing domestique
Haugset is currently on a two-year contract with Uno-X Mobility.
She was selected for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift roster (her second appearance) not for her yellow-jersey potential but rather as a climbing domestique.
The team had designated Katrine Aalerud as its GC leader, with a target of finishing in the top 10. Haugset’s published role was to provide support later in hilly stages, although the team explicitly left open the possibility of allowing her to pursue stage opportunities from different race situations.
9. A huge day for Norway
With her performance in Poligny, Haugset didn’t just win the biggest race of her career; she won big for Norway.
Haugset became the first Norwegian to win a stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and the first Norwegian woman to wear the yellow jersey.
In doing so, she joins an elite list of Norwegians who have worn the Tour de France yellow jersey, which includes just three others: male riders Thor Hushovd, Alexander Kristoff and, most recently, Torstein Træen.
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