Stagiaire Steps Up at Tour of China II

21 September 2016

Race: Tour of China II, stage 2

Start/Finish: Shaoshan / Shaoshan, China

Distance: 127.8 kilometers

Shaoshan, China – Team Novo Nordisk stagiaire Quentin Valognes once again showed his solid potential at Wednesday’s stage 2 of Tour of China II, when the 20 year-old Frenchman sprinted to a top 20 finish.

“Our goal was to make sure we had someone in the dangerous breaks,” Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov said, “and to help Andrea Peron in the final, in case of group sprint. All four of our riders were active, and Andrea and Gerd de Keijzer were in both of today’s breakaways.”

The field came back together inside the race’s final kilometers, setting the stage of for a mass sprint. Peron made his move to get into position, but was blocked before the finish line. Valognes stepped up and manage to sprint to 20th place.

Tino Thömel (RTS – Monton Racing) finished best on the day and moves into 2nd overall, 0:06 behind leader Nicolas Marini (Nippo – Vini Fantini).

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing tomorrow at Italy’s Coppa Sabatini – Gran Premio Citta di Peccioli and with stage 3 of the Tour of China II, which is comprised of a relatively short 116km through Liling.