Ardennes Week is a time of transition – the movement from one phase of the cycling season to another, the Classics to the Grand Tours. But while the racing itself delivered some exciting storylines – another step towards Tadej Pogačar’s claim of being the GOAT; a first Monument win for an African rider with AG Insurance-Soudal's Kim Le Court – one of the biggest stories wasn’t being told with sport but with marketing. In terms of media attention, one of the standouts was Uno-X Mobility’s one-race-only rebrand to Team 7-Eleven.
Team 7-Eleven wasn’t just a Norwegian team racing Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2025, but a deep cut from cycling’s past: a loving homage to the famous US-based 7-Eleven team of the 1980s, which featured in the film American Flyers, won the Giro d’Italia with Andrew Hampsten in 1988, picked up a handful of national titles and world championship medals. As the first American team to race – and win stages at – the Tour de France, 7-Eleven was hugely influential in the growth of interest in road cycling in North America.
In a sport with a deep appreciation for its history, Uno-X’s switch-up – complete with a kit that was a close match with the 7-Eleven team of the 1980s, and a bunch of fun, retro-tinged photos and videos to go along with it – was a well-calibrated fusion of nostalgia and modernity. Bicycle retrofuturism, or something like it. But it went deeper than just a kit and some social media hype: Dag-Otto Lauritzen, an ex-rider for Team 7-Eleven (and now a Norwegian media personality and mainstay of TV2’s cycling coverage) was even drafted in as a directeur sportif for the day.
Dag-Otto Lauritzen wins on Bastille Day at the 1987 Tour de France (L) and as team director at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2025 (R)
The initiative was made possible via Uno-X Mobility’s sponsorship structure. The team is wholly-owned by the Reitan Retail conglomerate, which owns the Scandinavian petrol station, e-charger and carwash chain Uno-X. Reitan also holds the rights to the 7-Eleven name in the region, allowing it to promote another brand within its own family of brands (it also owns supermarket chain REMA 1000, another major Uno-X sponsor). Uno-X’s connection to cycling is greater than a 'family' of brands and sponsorship alone; Uno-X Mobility’s CEO, Vegar Kulset, has at various points had all four of his sons riding for the team, including the youngest rider in last year’s Tour de France, Johannes Kulset. (Two Kulsets are still racing; another of them is now an Uno-X DS.)
At Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the race didn’t go Uno-X’s way: the team’s best placed rider in the men’s race was Andreas Leknessund (17th) while Ingvild Gåskjenn came in 28th in the women’s race. But even so, you’d have to describe the weekend as a success for the team. Through a cleverly executed campaign, Uno-X became perhaps the story of the week.
A reference pic from the original team, and a recreation.
I wanted to know more about how it all came together, so I arranged an interview with the team’s new head of communications, Henning Askjer Lefsaker.
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