Team Novo Nordisk Finishes As Top Team at the Tour of Estonia

Race: Tour of Estonia, Stage 2 

Start/Finish: Tartu / Tartu, Estonia

Distance: 144 kilometers

Tartu, Estonia — Team Novo Nordisk’s Martijn Verschoor sprinted to his second consecutive top 10 finish when he took eighth on Stage 2 of the Tour of Estonia, while teammate Charles Planet starred in the day’s main breakaway. Team Novo Nordisk finished the two-day race as the best-placed team overall.

Saturday’s 144-kilometer circuit featured 15 laps around a technical 9.6-km course. Charles Planet featured in a four-man breakaway that stayed away until the final two laps around Tartu. Team Novo Nordisk raced well together in the final laps to set up Verschoor for the finish. Roman Maikin (Gazprom-Rusvelo) sprinted to the win while Verschoor was blocked in on the right side and was only able to sprint to eighth. Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) won the overall, while Planet finished as Team Novo Nordisk’s best-placed rider in 12^th, 12 seconds behind Stepniak.

“Three top 10s in a little over a week; it’s not too bad,” Verschoor said. “I can feel that I’ve really come into my form. Today, I got stuck on the right side and couldn’t open up my sprint. I’m heading into another block of racing in North America next week and I hope to finally get on the podium.”

Team Novo Nordisk returns to racing on Monday with the one-day Winston-Salem Cycling Classic in North Carolina, USA.

Results: 

• 1^st: Roman Maikin (Gazprom-Rusvelo): 3:12:30
• 2^nd: Pascal Ackermann (German National Team): same time as Maikin
• 3^rd: Siarhei Papok (Minsk Cycling Club): same time as Maikin

Team Novo Nordisk Results: 

• Martijn Verschoor: 8^th: same time as Maikin
• Chris Williams: 25^th: same time as Maikin
• Charles Planet: 33^rd: same time as Maikin
• Andrea Peron: 37^th: same time as Maikin
• Corentin Cherhal: 66^th: 2:31 behind Maikin
• Ruud Cremers: DNF

Gallery:

(Photos: ©Tamro Haud)