Team Novo Nordisk Wraps PostNord Danmark Rundt

31 July 2016

Race: Tour of Denmark

Start/Finish: Karrebæksminde / Frederiksberg, Denmark

Distance: 175 kilometers

Frederiksberg, Denmark — The five-day Tour of Denmark concluded on Sunday with a 175-kilometer race beginning in Karrebæksminde and finishing with 10 laps around Frederiksberg. With points on the line for the sprint and king of the mountains jerseys, the peloton wasn’t willing to let a breakaway go until after 80 km of racing. Throughout all the early breaks, Team Novo Nordisk’s Chris Williams, David Lozano and Charles Planet were active at the front attempting to get in a break. Eventually, a seven-rider break formed, but the peloton kept the race under control and never let them gain a large gap. The escapees were reeled in on the final laps around Frederiksberg as it started to rain. Heading into the finish, a crash took Team Novo Nordisk’s Andrea Peron, Martijn Verschoor and Planet out of contention. Phil Bauhaus (Bora-Argon 18) sprinted to the win with Michael Valgren (Tinkoff) taking the overall race win.

“The final stage of the Tour of Denmark was really fast. Our goal was to get in the breakaway and set up our sprinters for the finish,” Team Novo Nordisk General Manager Vassili Davidenko said. “We spent a lot of energy to get in the breakaway and after the first hour, the average speed was 52 k per hour. We burned a few too many matches in the beginning try to get in the breakaway. We did what we could in the finish but a couple of crashes ended our hopes for the sprint.”

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, begins racing on Monday at the Tour of Utah in America. The 135-kilometer Stage 1 starts in Zion Canyon Village and finishes in Cedar City.