Soren Waerenskjold caught the big guns by surprise with a long-range sprint to win the fastest-ever stage of the Tour de France.

Racing in his fourth Tour, the 26-year-old Norwegian claimed his first stage win and just the second for his team, Uno-X Mobility.

Overall race leader Tadej Pogacar remains three minutes and 36 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification standings.

The peloton completed stage 11 at an average speed of 50.9km per hour, beating the previous record of 50.3kph from 1999.

A sprint finish was expected on Wednesday, a flat 161.3km route from Vichy to Nevers, and Cees Bol made the first move as the peloton rolled into the final 500m after catching the day’s breakaway.

But team-mate Olav Kooij did not follow and as the riders hesitated, Waerenskjold sneaked through a gap beside the barriers to launch a counter-attack with 400m remaining.

He charged past Bol, before Kooij and Jasper Philipsen set off in pursuit, but they had left themselves too much to do as Waerenskjold won by almost a bike’s length from Kooij.

Philipsen crossed the line third but was relegated for moving in the sprint, with Milan Fretin promoted to the podium.

Waerenskjold, who was second to Tim Merlier on stage seven, said: “I thought I was too far back and then it opened up on the right side, like it usually doesn’t do.

“I saw Cees Bol had a gap and I tried to sprint up to him and hold a little bit back to go from his wheel.

“Then I saw there were 250 to go. I was just waiting for the same thing to happen when Merlier passed me, but it didn’t happen this time.

“It’s surreal, it’s unbelievable,” he added. “It means everything, it’s my biggest win so far.

“I just have to let it sink in and then I will probably be more happy than I look now, but it’s a big surprise for myself.”

Waerenskjold was the last rider to cross the line on Tuesday’s mountain stage having suffered a nasty crash on Bastille Day.

But he managed to regroup on an almost pan-flat route through central France, with favourable winds making the record pace possible, to upset the likes of previous green jersey winners Philipsen and Biniam Girmay.

“There are two or three guys here who are faster, but if I’m lucky and have a good sprint, like today, then it’s possible,” Waerenskjold added.

“Sometimes I have really good confidence, and I believe in myself, but there is many, many times where I feel super tired and like it’s impossible to win here.

“It’s crazy that it happened today, also after the crash. I felt really [not good] in the start, but then my body got going, and I felt better in the final with the adrenaline and everything.”

Waerenskjold’s stage win adds to an impressive Tour so far for Uno-X, with team-mate Torstein Traeen having worn the yellow jersey for two days in the opening week.

But the sprint stars are yet to shine. Philipsen and Girmay have 13 Tour stage wins between them but have so far failed to add to that tally this year, with Merlier (two) and Kooij winning the other sprint-friendly finishes.

With Thursday’s stage also flat and looking likely to be a sprint finish, the big guns have another chance to break their drought tomorrow.