Rund um Köln splits on first climb and Peron hangs on

Despite not feeling great before, the start 34-year-old Italian Andrea Peron went deep for Team Novo Nordisk on the unforgiving terrain of Rund um Köln to finish close behind the lead group.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Bora split the race really early, they went hard on the first steep climb and the group was in pieces. Andrea and Hamish both did a good job to stay in the second group at that point and afterwards it was quite simply a battle to hold on.”

“The race continued to break apart behind the leaders and pretty soon Andrea was up there in what became the third group alone. He worked himself into the ground today and considering he’s not been well the last few days, it was impressive how he committed himself today.”

Andrea Peron:

“I feel like every inch of my body knows something about Cologne now. This is one hell of a hard race and the average speed must have been crazy high throughout, because we started with a bang on the first climb and it was just like an aftershock that kept rolling through the peloton until there was just small groups of riders left all over the road.”

“It was a fight until the end, I’m glad to have finished and to have shown what we can do in tough circumstances. It was great to have such a lot support on the roadside and at the finish line and despite the difficulty of the race I really enjoyed the atmosphere.”