Verschoor Finishes Just Outside Top 10 at Dubai Tour

04 February 2016

Race: Dubai Tour, stage 2

Start/Finish: Dubai/Palm Jumeirah Atlantis

Distance: 183 kilometers

Dubai, U.A.E.- Team Novo Nordisk’s Martijn Verschoor sprinted to 11th place on Stage 2 of Dubai Tour, placing him 13th overall in general classification.

Thursday’s stage kicked off with several attacks. “The pace was high from the very beginning with many attacks and counter-attacks,” Team Novo Nordisk Senior Vice President of Athletics, Vassili Davidenko said.

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After 6km, a four-man break was able to pull away, and though the Team Novo Nordisk squad was active, they had no luck in making the break. Etixx – Quick Step set a fast tempo in the peloton, with an average speed of 49.8km/h, and Team Novo Nordisk worked to put sprinter Martijn Verschoor in position for the final sprint.

The Dutch rider was well protected approaching the final 3km, “but 1.5km from the finish,” Davidenko points out, “the peloton passed through a tunnel, and there was a crash on the exit. The riders were forced to slow down to get around the crash, and a lot of speed was lost. Martijn was able to work to recover several positions and still finish the race at a solid 11^th position.”

“It was unfortunate that I lost some speed in the crash,” Verschoor says. “I got bit fatigued working my way back to the front and may have lost power for the final 300m. But I felt very strong today, and my teammates did a great job to support me throughout the entire stage. It’s too bad I didn’t score a top 10 today, but tomorrow is a G.C. day, and I am in a good position at 13th overall. So I hope I’ll be able to move into the top 10 after tomorrow’s stage.”

Results:

1st – Elia Viviani (Team Sky)
2nd – Sacha Modolo (Lampre – Merida)
3rd – Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo)

Team Novo Nordisk Results:

11th – Martijn Verschoor
29th – Charles Planet
43rd – David Lozano
45th – Nicolas Lefrançois
50th – Andrea Peron
56th – Joonas Henttala
84th – Stephen Clancy
97th – Javier Megias

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing at the Dubai Tour on Friday with Stage 3. The 172-kilometer stage begins again at Dubai International Marine Club and ends with an uphill finish in Hatta Dam with maximum gradients of 17 percent.