Peron Earns Season Best at Volta Rio Grande do Sul

Race: Volta Ciclística Internacional do Rio Grande do Sul, Stage 3 

Start/Finish: São Francisco de Paula / São Francisco de Paula, Brazil

Distance: 162 kilometers 

São Francisco de Paula, Brazil —After Thursday’s fifth place finish, Team Novo Nordisk’s Andrea Peron went one better when he sprinted to fourth place on Stage 3 of the Volta Ciclística Internacional do Rio Grande do Sul. 

“Today, everything came down to the final 50 meters and I simply missed it in the sprint,” Peron said. “It was a good day for me and maybe could have been even better but our real focus is protecting Joonas in the overall.”

Stage 3 of the Volta Ciclística Internacional do Rio Grande do Sul saw numerous breakaways throughout the 162-kilometer stage, but no Team Novo Nordisk riders were present. The aim of the day was to set up Peron for the sprint and protect Joonas Henttala’s overall standing. The race saw a chaotic finish into downtown São Francisco de Paula but Peron was able to maintain his position and earned fourth in the sprint finish. Henttala finished with the same time in 13^th position and held on to seventh overall, 1:50 behind race leader Murilo Affonso (Funvic Soul Cycles).

“Every day we are moving closer and closer to the perfect execution of the team and being in the right place at the right time,” Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov said. “While we aren’t quite there yet, we keep learning and fine tuning the strategy, especially in the final kilometers.” 

Results Stage 3:

• 1^st: Bryon Guama (Team Ecuador): 3:42:36
• 2^nd: Daniel Juarez (Vivo Team Grupo Orsey): same time as Guama
• 3^rd: Ivan Stevic (Start-Vaxes Cycling Team): same time as Guama

Team Novo Nordisk Results: 

• Andrea Peron: 4^th: same time as Guama
• Joonas Henttala: 13^th: same time as Guama
• Corentin Cherhal: 48^th: 0:39 behind Guama
• Chris Williams: 51^st: 0:53 behind Guama
• Gerd de Keijzer: 78^th: 3:51 behind Guama
• James Glasspool: 79^th: 3:51 behind Guama

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