Tour de la Mirabelle

Italian sprinter Andrea Peron came within a whisker of his second victory for Team Novo Nordisk, sprinting to third on today’s 160km opening stage of Tour de la Mirabelle after a close fought finale in France.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“Very good teamwork from the guys in the final today and it’s great to see Andrea firing again and coming back into some form ahead of the summer targets. To start here with a top three is great.”

“It took a long time for the breakaway to go despite repeated attempts and finally after 60km of racing a small group gained a couple of minutes, but it was never going anywhere. We had a clear objective to work for Andrea in the final and the guys all did their jobs. He came very close to another win, 50 meters more and maybe.”

Andrea Peron:

“I’m actually really frustrated with the finale, because the last kilometer was quite poorly marked and I started my sprint too late. I thought there was 300m to go but there was only 100m so I feel it was a missed opportunity. It is was it is and there wasn’t much in it at the end, but I felt like I had the speed to do better than third.”

“Thanks to the boys, they did a good job for me on the run in to the final and I can feel some form is coming. I’m over the sickness from last week and after such a hard race in Cologne last weekend, it feels good to be riding strongly and starting off with a podium finish.”

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency

Six categorized climbs pock-marked todays short yet intense second stage at Tour de la Mirabelle with the experienced duo of David Lozano and Andrea Peron the standout performers for Team Novo Nordisk.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“One look at the course beforehand was enough to see what kind of day it was going to be today and six of the categorized climbs were cat one, so we prepared for a hard day.”

“The climbs came back to back and after the initial breakaway group went up the road, the rest of the race split fairly quickly. Both Andrea and David did well in what was left of the peloton and helped each other all the way. They came close but the race never regrouped and Andrea won the sprint out of the second group for a top 20.” 

David Lozano:

“We worked hard throughout the stage today and there was more than one occasion that I thought mine and Andrea’s group would make it back up to the leaders, but we never quite made it.”

“We were close a couple of times, but the final attacks pushed the gap back out to near 40 seconds and that was it. Andrea still finished well and sprinted into 18th at the end, so we have another go tomorrow and try for the best result possible.”

Three days of punchy racing in northeastern France at the Tour de la Mirabelle ended with the races longest stage and another sprint finale with Italian Andrea Peron storming to second place for Team Novo Nordisk and taking the green points jersey. 

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“Top three on stage one, top 20 yesterday and then second today and the points jersey for Andrea so not bad at all! It’s been an action packed three days and all the team raced well together. Especially David, Peter and Andrea, those three were fantastic today.”

“It’s been good preparation for the team for the upcoming races in Belgium and I’m happy to see Lucas make his return to racing without any problems and of course coming away with a jersey is always nice.”

Andrea Peron:

“It’s a great feeling to win the green points jersey here at Tour de la Mirabelle and with a second and third place the only thing missing was a win, but we’ll take this and enjoy the moment.”

“The whole team have been great the last three days and today David and Peter were absolutely immense. They were with me right until the end and I couldn’t have asked for better support.“

”Chapeau to the winner because he jumped early and that’s what I should have done. I said on stage one that I felt good and that I’m carrying the speed and that was the same today. It’s nice to finally be over the sickness after Hungary, and I’m already looking ahead to our next races in Belgium and fingers crossed we can perform well there too.”