Climbs Make for Dynamic Day at Tour de Taiwan

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 3

Start/Finish: Taoyuan/Taoyuan, Taiwan

Distance: 118.7 kilometers 

Taoyuan, Taiwan — Tuesday’s Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan featured a flat start followed by two categorized climbs and a summit finish on a Category 1 climb in Taoyuan.

The team’s goals were similar to previous days with the aim to cover any dangerous attacks, save sprinter Quentin Valognes for the flat, final stage and protect Brian Kamstra until the climbs. The team rode together until the climbs with Kamstra, Chris Williams and Rik van IJzendoorn only responding to threatening moves. Once the peloton reached the climbs, van IJzendoorn showed strong legs and stayed with the second group to the finish. Daniel Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) took the win from a five-man group with van IJzendoorn finishing 35 seconds back on the mountaintop finish.

Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov:

“It was a challenging day with a Category 1 climb up tight, small roads to the finish. We were able to implement most of our goals with the only exception being that Rik ended up feeling better than Brian on the final climb and they switched roles. Tomorrow will feature even more climbing and it is an even longer day in the saddle.”

The world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team continues racing at the Tour de Taiwan on Wednesday with Stage 4. The 166.6-km climbing stage begins and ends in Nantou.

Results: 

• 1^st: Daniel Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team): 2:45:52
• 2^nd: Anthony Giacoppo (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness Team): same time as Summerhill
• 3^rd: Brenton Jones (Team JLT Condor): same time as Summerhill

Team Novo Nordisk Results: 

• Rik van IJzendoorn: 31²⁵: 0:35 behind Summerhill
• Brian Kamstra: 52^nd: 3:25 behind Summerhill
• Chris Williams: 69^th: 7:41 behind Summerhill
• Stephen Clancy: 71^st: 7:41 behind Summerhill
• Quentin Valognes: 73^rd: 8:25 behind Summerhill