Tour de Taiwan

Team Novo Nordisk’s first appearance at the Tour de Taiwan started well with Italian Filippo Ridolfo making the breakaway and taking the bonus seconds before Hamish Beadle sprinted to 11th in the hectic finale.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“I’m pleased with how the guys started today, it was a short and fast stage and it was important to be switched on early. Filippo did as planned and for the second race in a row made the breakaway and did a  good job of racing from the front to take some bonus seconds.”

“That puts him in 5th on the early GC and we wanted to start with a high footing on both the stage and the overall. Hamish is well suited to this type of explosive, short stage and he fought well against the bigger guys in the final.”

Hamish Beadle:

“Slightly disappointed to be fair, because we came so close to the top ten and it’s always a little bit frustrating when you’re that close but it was a good start overall. I would have liked it to be a little lumpier, it was pretty flat and the pure sprinters always have the advantage on that type of finish.”

“It’s going to take us another day or so to acclimatize, the conditions are very different to Europe at the moment and I’m looking forward to see how we do on the climbs coming up over the next stages.”

The first climbs of this year’s Tour de Taiwan were met on the front foot by Team Novo Nordisk as both David Lozano and Filippo Ridolfo finished in the lead group with Lozano top 20 on the day and Ridolfo digging deep to hold his place on the general classification.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“Second day of racing and another positive performance from our guys, the first climbs of the race came in the second half of the stage and both David and Filippo did very well. All our guys rode a good race, but it was important for David and Filippo to be as close to the front as possible and they managed to do that.”

“Fighting for a good result on the general classification is a new experience for Filippo and he’s acquitting himself well, learning about a new role and racing as much with his head as his legs. We’re taking each day as it comes but two days in and we’re still there, so we will keep trying to help Filippo maintain his position.”

David Lozano:

“Today was a hard stage, the first hour was 56kph average speed, so it was a fast start until we hit a head wind and that really slowed the bunch down. However, the wind created a lot of tension in the bunch and things started to split up, but I survived by riding on the shoulders and little by little I felt better as we hit the climbs.”

“The bunch got smaller very quickly over the climbs, and I prefer that, it’s a much more manageable situation and I’m happy to have made it into the top 20. The guys did a good job of trying to keep me out of the wind and staying together over the fast first hour of racing. Filippo was really strong today and he did great to hold his place on the overall.”

It’s been coming for a while and it’s not been for want of trying and on stage three of the Tour de Taiwan Italian puncheur Umberto Poli got his chance in the sprint for Team Novo Nordisk and duly delivered a top ten, crossing the line in ninth.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“I’m happy for Umberto, he’s been asking for an opportunity in the sprints for a while now and today he got it, and he did well, but now it’s important that he pushes on from here.”

“It was a double-edged sword for us today because we did well on the stage, but unfortunately Filippo didn’t feel great and lost some time on the climb and slipped back on the general classification. We’ll adapt our objectives accordingly and look to try and move David up on the last two stages.”

Umberto Poli:

“The race split a couple of times over the climbs and myself, David and Sam made it into the front group of around 60 guys and I felt good and wanted to go for the sprint, so I’m happy I got a chance to do that. To be honest ninth is ok, but I think I could even have done a little better, so that’s something to aim for.”

“We’ve been working hard every day here and we started this race in a really good way, lots of positive energy in the team and we will give our all over the last two stages to get the best result possible.”

New Zealander Hamish Beadle came agonizingly close to a first career victory for Team Novo Nordisk on stage 4 of the Tour de Taiwan when he was the last man standing from the days breakaway only to be cruelly caught within the last 200m.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“Another frustrating day, we had two objectives for today’s stage. The first was to get in the breakaway and the second was to keep David sheltered and fresh to try and move up on the overall classification.”

“We achieved the first goal and Hamish was part of the day’s break and worked very well within the group. They gained a lot of time and chapeau to Hamish, because he really dug in and was the last rider out there. To be caught so close to the line is frustrating, but that’s cycling anddespite our efforts we came away with nothing today.”

Hamish Beadle:

“I’m super disappointed, completely deflated. We’ll reflect on how today went and take positives from it for sure, but at the moment I’m just gutted. It was so close.”

“The break went from the first kilometers, and we knew we had to be alive to it, so I was happy to be up there and to find a couple of Kiwi’s and Aussies in there, that really helped the collaboration, and we were rolling well together. I knew that the heat could potentially cause a problem for me and as I was following moves in the last 15km I started to cramp up and had to battle with myself to overcome that.

“At that point you’re in the pain cave anyway and you either give in or push on and I knew I was going to push on. The group kept reducing over every kilometer and as we hit the last few hundred meters, there were three of us left so with 500m to go I thought “it’s now or never” and jumped. I gave it everything I had and got swallowed by the chasing group just before the line.”