Peron goes top 10 in Turkey, Polga makes first ever breakaway

Today was another eventful day for Team Novo Nordisk on stage 5 of the Presidential Tour of Turkey with Andrea Peron racking in another top 10 for the team. The Italian fast-man finished ninth to keep the momentum going for the world’s first all-diabetes cycling team.

The day started off well for the team when Antonio Polga made the day’s breakaway over the 177.9 kilometer stage from Bodrum to Kuşadası. It was the first time in a breakaway at this level for Polga who is in his first season with the Pro Team after graduating from the Devo team.

General Manager, Vassili Davidenko

“Today we felt there was a slight chance the breakaway could make it to the finish. We saw yesterday, they were caught very late, so we wanted to be represented there today. It was Antonio’s turn to go on the attack so the other guys could recover with a big mountaintop finish coming tomorrow.”

“Matyas wasn’t feeling too well today so Andrea was our man for the sprints. The guys brought him into a good position with 5 kilometers to go and from there he used his experience to surf the sprint trains and ensure we get another good result here. It has been a good race for us now it’s time to recover before a big test tomorrow.”

Andrea Peron:

“The first objective was not to crash and then I tried to stay in the front as much as possible. I was actually feeling really good today so it’s easier to take on the sprints when you have good legs. In the last 300 meters I was in tenth position and then coming to the line I had to hit the brakes because we nearly crashed. Today’s finish was perfect for Matyas, it’s a shame he is not feeling well but that’s racing and I hope he can recover for the last two days. We’ll see what we can do.”

Antonio Polga:

“Today I was told by the team to stay in the front at the start of the stage. My legs were feeling good so I was covering the moves and managed to catch the right moment to make the breakaway. We rotated well, the other guys in the group were really strong. We were lucky and had a tailwind for a lot of the sections and we rode smart, using it to our advantage.”

“With 20 kilometers to go, one guy attacked, all I could do was ride my own tempo until the peloton caught me then went easy to the end. It was a good day for the team with Andrea finishing top 10 so it’s another good day for us. It was my first ever breakaway in the pro ranks but not the last.”

Photos: Yücel Çakiroğlu