Verschoor Sprints to Fifth in Tour of Estonia Opener

Race: Tour of Estonia, Stage 1 

Start/Finish: Tallinn / Tartu, Estonia

Distance: 190 kilometers 

Tartu, Estonia — Team Novo Nordisk’s Martijn Verschoor showcased his strength when he finished fifth on Stage 1 of the Tour of Estonia. Following the first stage, Team Novo Nordisk is first place in the team classification.

Friday’s 190-kilometer race featured two categorized climbs and two intermediate sprints before a flat finish into Tartu. A four-man break escaped 70 km into the day and was reeled in 20 km before the finish. Team Novo Nordisk rode well together heading into the finish in anticipation of a bunch sprint. Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) took the win with Verschoor finishing in the same time. Verschoor is Team Novo Nordisk’s best-place rider overall in ninth place, 10 seconds behind Stepniak.

“To be honest, I wanted better than fifth and I know I have the form to do it,” Verschoor said. “I tapped my breaks with 100 meters to go and if I hadn’t hesitated, I believe I could have won.

Team Novo Nordisk continues racing at the two-day Tour of Estonia with the final stage on Saturday. Stage 2 is a 144-km circuit around Tartu and features 15 laps around a 9.6-km course.

Results: 

• 1^st: Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC Sprandi Polkowice): 4:03:24
• 2^nd: Mihkel Raim (Cycling Academy Team): same time as Stepniak
• 3^rd: Ludwig Bengtsson (Sweden National Team): same time as Stepniak

Team Novo Nordisk Results: 

• Martijn Verschoor: 5^th: same time as Stepniak
• Andrea Peron: 13^th: same time as Stepniak
• Chris Williams: 18^th: same time as Stepniak
• Charles Planet: 48^th: same time as Stepniak
• Corentin Cherhal: 56^th: same time as Stepniak
• Ruud Cremers: 81^st: same time as Stepniak

Gallery:

(Photo: ©Tamru Haud)