Vuelta Asturias Julio Alvarez Mendo

Strong teamwork from Team Novo Nordisk saw veteran Hungarian climber Peter Kustzor give his all to stay with the leaders over the trio of final climbs on stage one at the Vuelta Asturias eventually finishing in the second group on the road.

Sports Director Gennady Milkhaylov:

“We know all about how hard the Vuelta Asturias is and todays opener was certainly a challenge with five categorized climbs coming in 181km. The break went very early, only two guys and we just tried to do our best to stay together in the bunch that inevitably began to fracture as the day went on.”

“Peter did well again and Charles did a great job of trying to position Peter as the selection formed with around 30km to go and it was good to see the guys working together. Peter did his best and finished not far behind the leaders, so all in all we had a positive start.”

Peter Kustzor:

“My overall feeling was good today and I felt strong all the way. Once the breakaway duo went it settled down a little, but Eolo and Movistar led the peloton and kept the gap at around three minutes, so you knew it was going to explode again”

“The boys all did a good job today and Charles especially gave everything to keep me at the front for the steep La Cabana climb with about 30km to go. I started in a good position, but the pace was very high and I couldn’t hold onto the leading group. we tried to make contact again before the final, but by then even the leaders had split and I finished in the second group.”

Photo Credit: Sprint Cycling Agency

Another big day in the saddle put the peloton to the sword on stage two of the Vuelta Asturias with second year professional Jan Dunnewind of Team Novo Nordisk going deep in the days breakaway.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“What a day. It was lively right from the start and on a parcours like this with so much heavy climbing we knew that our best option was going to be the breakaway and Jan did a great job of getting up there and then riding so strongly.”

“There were nine guys up the road and Jan needed to be switched on very early to make it into the group. Once up there he didn’t sit back and rotated his turns to drive the move on very well, he’s been training hard and it’s good to see that hard work paying off.”

Jan Dunnewind:

“I had a difficult start to the year but I have been working hard in training and with the coaching team to get back. Over the last few weeks my training was going very well and I felt ready to race.”

“The Vuelta Asturias is not the easiest race to start my season with, but because I moved from the Netherlands to Italy I’m getting more used to repetitive climbs and on yesterday’s first stage the legs felt pretty good so I already had in mind I wanted to be in the break today. And I’m really happy I made it.

“From the start the group worked really well together, but after a long uphill drag at the bottom of the first steep climb I dropped out and I got over the top with Peter’s group and tried to help him as best I could. Then at the start of the final climb I rode my own pace to the finish.”

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency

Team Novo Nordisk enjoyed a positive three days of racing at the Vuelta Asturias that came to a close with an explosive finale in Oviedo with the breakaway holding off the chasers to take the final stage win. 

Sports director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“We’ve had a really good three days here in Asturias and the guys worked hard to achieve our goals, with Jan’s breakaway on stage two a highlight and a good sign that he’s getting back into form and developing. 

“Todays stage was another tough one and explosive in the final third with the second category Tenebreo climb coming close to the finish and the main bunch split behind the breakaway. There was a dramatic chase by the leaders towards the end, but we were further back and the last guy standing from the breakaway ended up taking the stage.”

Andrea Peron:

“It’s definitely good to be back racing, but it’s been a very tough three days racing. These climbs aren’t for a sprinter like me, but the team did a good job of working for each other and we’re looking ahead to the Tour de Hongrie coming up next and trying to repeat our good performances of recent years there.”

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency