McDonald in the break as Perracchione climbs well on stage two in Taiwan

The second day of racing at the Tour de Taiwan saw the race move out into the countryside and on to the picturesque climbs with Alessandro Perracchione once again inside the top 15 for Team Novo Nordisk.

Australian neo pro Bailey McDonald was the early protagonist for the worlds first all diabetes professional cycling team with the 21 year old part of the breakaway for around 90km of racing, before the move came back ahead of the lumpy final.

“It’s a great experience racing at this level and competing,” began McDonald. “I’m feeling good physically and getting up the road in the breakaway today was great, for my confidence and also to be able to do a job for the team. We’re in a good place with Ale breaking into the top ten on GC today too.”

“This all a steep learning curve, not only the jump to pro level, but also managing my diabetes. My glucose levels have been up and down the last two days over here and it’s great to have the experience and support of the team to help with that. Travel, acclimatizing and pre race nutrition and preparation are all important factors that I’m getting used to.”

McDonald’s exploits in the breakaway took some pressure off his teammates in the bunch with Perracchione able to sit on until the uphill finale. The 20 year old Italian finished 14th for the second day in succession and is now ninth overall with three days of racing to come.