Team Novo Nordisk Tackles PostNord Danmark Rundt Opener

01 August 2018

Race: Tour of Denmark, PostNord Danmark Rundt, Stage 1

Start/Finish: Aalborg/Aalborg, Denmark

Distance: 218 kilometers

Aalborg, Denmark — The five-day PostNord Danmark Rundt kicked off with the race’s longest stage at 218 kilometers. A four-man break escaped early into the hot and sunny day.

They earned a maximum gap of around four minutes and still had a small gap as they entered the finishing circuits around Aalborg. The peloton ramped up and soon absorbed all the escapees, but it was Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue) who played the winning move.

The Danish rider attacked in the final kilometer and held on to take the win.

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing on Thursday with Stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark. The 173-km stage begins in Viborg and features two intermediate sprints and four categorized climbs before three finishing laps in Vejle. The last 800 meters ramps up to 21 percent, and then the final 400 meters includes a 4 percent drag to the finish line.

Andrea Peron

“I’m a bit frustrated with how I played the finish. In the past, the race has slowed down a bit as we reach the base of the climb on the finishing circuit but this year that’s when they cranked up the speed. Then Hansen attacked and everyone was caught off guard. My position was too far back and I wasn’t able to take on the sprint.”