Lozano and Ridolfo climb well on stage two in Taiwan

The first climbs of this year’s Tour de Taiwan were met on the front foot by Team Novo Nordisk as both David Lozano and Filippo Ridolfo finished in the lead group with Lozano top 20 on the day and Ridolfo digging deep to hold his place on the general classification.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“Second day of racing and another positive performance from our guys, the first climbs of the race came in the second half of the stage and both David and Filippo did very well. All our guys rode a good race, but it was important for David and Filippo to be as close to the front as possible and they managed to do that.”

“Fighting for a good result on the general classification is a new experience for Filippo and he’s acquitting himself well, learning about a new role and racing as much with his head as his legs. We’re taking each day as it comes but two days in and we’re still there, so we will keep trying to help Filippo maintain his position.”

David Lozano:

“Today was a hard stage, the first hour was 56kph average speed, so it was a fast start until we hit a head wind and that really slowed the bunch down. However, the wind created a lot of tension in the bunch and things started to split up, but I survived by riding on the shoulders and little by little I felt better as we hit the climbs.”

“The bunch got smaller very quickly over the climbs, and I prefer that, it’s a much more manageable situation and I’m happy to have made it into the top 20. The guys did a good job of trying to keep me out of the wind and staying together over the fast first hour of racing. Filippo was really strong today and he did great to hold his place on the overall.”