Valognes Tested in the Sprint at Tour of China

20 September 2017

Race: Tour of China II, stage 2

Start/Finish: Lixian/Lixian, China

Distance: 98 kilometers

LIXIAN, CHINA – Team Novo Nordisk continued its second week of racing in Asia with Wednesday’s flat and furious stage 2 of the 2017 Tour of China II. Once again the late Chinese summer challenged the peloton with scorching heat, and the week’s weather forecast shows more of the same ahead.

Stage 2 was comprised of two large circuits around the Hunan Province’s Lishui River, with a finish in the regional city Lixian. The race came back together with 5km to go, and for the first time this season for many of the riders, the pieces for a team sprint fell into place.

Along flat and wide streets and down a long, straight finish with a steady wind, the Team Novo Nordisk squad worked to put Quentin Valognes in contention for a podium. But in the mass sprint, it came down to reading the race and knowing how to react.

Australia’s Scott Sunderland (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) edged out Spain’s Jon Aberasturi (Team UKYO) and Italian Marco Benfatto (Androni – Sidermec – Bottechia) for the win, with Valognes finishing at the same time as the leaders.

Quentin Valognes:

“We are learning, we are learning. Today was good to see all the race come back together. I was surprised, since it was the first time for me.”

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing at Tour of China II through the end of the week, with three more flat stages likely to end in mass sprints like today’s stage 2 in Lixian.