Peron Goes Top 15 in Tour of Croatia Opener

Race: Tour of Croatia

Start/Finish: Osijek/Varazdin, Croatia

Distance: 230.4 kilometers

Osijek, Croatia —Team Novo Nordisk’s Andrea Peron set the stage for the six-day Tour of Croatia when he took 15^th place against some of the best sprinters in the world on Tuesday’s opener. 

Stage 1 was a 230.4-kilometer run from Osijek to Varazdin. The race began under threatening skies and the peloton experienced some rain throughout the lengthy day. A four-man breakaway escaped early and gained a maximum gap of more than 10 minutes. With 40 km remaining, Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team) attacked the break and set off solo. The Canadian stayed out front until the finishing lap around Varazdin when he was caught by the peloton. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) took the win on the narrow and technical finish.

“The Tour of Croatia is my first stage race back since my crash at Dubai Tour,” Team Novo Nordisk’s Nicolas Lefrançois said. “I would say today went okay. It wasn’t amazing, but it also wasn’t bad. For me, the real focus is getting some race speed in my legs and feeling comfortable again.”  

Results: 

• 1^st: Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek –Segafredo): 5:27:45
• 2^nd: Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data): same time as Nizzolo
• 3^rd: Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems Cycling Team): same time as Nizzolo

Team Novo Nordisk Results: 

• Andrea Peron: 15^th: same time as Nizzolo
• Charles Planet: 53^rd: same time as Nizzolo
• Kevin De Mesmaeker: 98^th: same time as Nizzolo
• David Lozano: 106^th: same time as Nizzolo
• Martijn Verschoor: 110^th: same time as Nizzolo
• Nicolas Lefrançois: 132: 0:38 behind Nizzolo
• Joonas Henttala: 134: 0:38 behind Nizzolo
• Javier Megias: 140: 0:38 behind Nizzolo

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