It was on May 13 last year that the surprising phone call came. Up on a summit in the Sierra Nevada in Spain, Træen was called by a doping inspector. Træen told VG that the inspector said that the Norwegian could be seriously ill, as a doping test gave a positive result for the banned substance hCG. – It was quite difficult for both of them. It came suddenly, the phone he got. Then you start thinking “worst case”. We both sat and hoped it was cancer, because it was a much better case than the other, seen in the eyes of cyclists, or all athletes, says Susanne Andersen to news. Like Træen, she rides for the Norwegian professional team Uno-X. The two are also roommates in Andersen’s hometown, Stavanger. – They hoped for that? – Yes. You know that the forecasts are quite good. We went to the first check together. We didn’t get an answer to that. It was especially difficult for him. I was pretty sure – I knew he hadn’t done anything else wrong. For me it was only one option, but then you get paranoid anyway. The mental weight of it was very heavy on both of them, she says. – It was better to have cancer than a positive doping test, so one hopes that it is cancer then, says Træen himself. TOUGH TIME: For Susanne Andersen, it was a difficult period waiting for the test results for Træen, something that led to her being over the moon and having what she herself refers to as “mental breakdowns”. Photo: Wordup Projects/Uno-X Pro Cycling – It’s an absurd dilemma to be faced with. I knew all along what it was, because the boy doesn’t dope himself. But the fact that he sits and stands for quite a long time, with many tests, tests and assessments, I can only imagine how it must have been for them. It was a burden for them. I thought it was incredibly demanding myself, says team manager Jens Haugland. – Everything was really just crazy, Træen says himself, he cried in Uno-X coach Espen Aareskjold’s room after the message from the doping inspector came. – What was tough was that I knew it was a positive test. Then I knew that cancer could be part of it, but they couldn’t see anything on the pictures and the ultrasound. So you just walked around and waited the whole time. When you then went around waiting, you spent a lot of energy waiting for what happens, he says, and continues: – At Helsenoreg, you can see everyone who opens your files. I saw that there were 10-15 doctors who were inside looking at the files, but I couldn’t see what they were looking at. I knew all along that something was happening, but you didn’t know what happened. The whole thing was just very ignorant. Even when I was operated on, they didn’t even know then that I had cancer. They just said: “We think it’s best that we remove one testicle”. DEMANDING WAITING TIME: Træen says that throughout the period he had good support from the team and those around him, with several weekly conversations with Haugland and the team doctor, in addition to the fact that, among others, Andersen and teammate Martin Urianstad Bugge attended meetings with the doctors. Photo: Szymon Gruchalski/Uno-X Pro Cycling – You just get tired from the whole thing. I went there for six to seven weeks after I got the message. Actually, I didn’t want to train or do anything. Everything was really just crazy, says Træen. At the end of June last year, the operation was carried out, where one testicle was removed. A tumor of 15 millimeters was discovered. As it had not spread further in the body, Træen did not need more treatment after the operation, he has previously told TV 2. He thinks he has turned it on. He is still not completely done with the cancer. Just a week and a half before the start of the Tour de France, he was in for a check-up with the doctor. – She hasn’t called me, so it’s probably gone well, he says with a smile. KEEPING UP THE WILL TO TRAIN: Andersen describes that she took Træen out for training ahead of the operation, to ensure that her partner got out. Photo: Wordup Projects/Uno-X Pro Cycling For now, he sees a lot of positives in what happened. – I think it’s a bit special. Kind of funny. It has gone very quickly, I think. It was difficult then and there, but in retrospect I can only joke and laugh about it. It went well in a way, even though it was as serious as it was. I think I coped well and I learned a lot about myself as a rider, which changed the way you look at life a little. All in all, I just turned it on, says the 27-year-old. – He breathes cycling, the climbing specialist has never been better either. He was not allowed to train for the first two weeks after the operation, but then he was back quickly. Already five weeks after the operation last year, he surprised the doctor when he told them with satisfaction that he had trained 28 hours the previous week. – She couldn’t understand that I had trained for 28 hours, because an ordinary person hadn’t started to move after five weeks. I was quite prepared that when I first got started, I would have to do it quite quickly, says Træen. RIGHT FROM THE START: Both Træen and Jonas Abrahamsen, second from the left, have been in Uno-X since its inception in 2017. The two are also both going to this year’s Tour de France. Here from the Tour of the Alps earlier this year. On 18 August he was back in competition and the season ended with seventh and third place combined in the CRO Race and Tour de Langkawi in October. The best result in his career so far came in June, in the traditional rally race of the Tour de France, the Critérium du Dauphiné. With an eighth place, he cycled to the best overall result by a Norwegian in the history of the race – a race that was won by last year’s Tour winner, Jonas Vingegaard. – Torstein is special. He loves cycling. He breathes cycling. He loves life, he loves going high and everything about it, says team manager Haugland. TEAM MANAGER: Jens Haugland in Uno-X. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – He has always been very motivated to train and put in a lot of work and always did what needed to be done. I’ve only been waiting for results like in the Dauphiné, because you just know that he has it in him, but you don’t quite get to show it. I am often inspired by Torstein and the way he works. I often think about it and get motivated myself. I hope we bring out the best in each other, says Andersen – who herself will make her debut in the women’s Tour de France in a few weeks. For a high-flying Tree, he comes on Saturday.
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