Team Novo Nordisk bound for back-to-back races in Bulgaria

25 August 2022

Team Novo Nordisk head to Bulgaria this week for a double header of Eastern European racing at the Tour of Bulgaria and sister race In the Footsteps of the Romans, the world’s first all diabetes professional cycling team will be making their first appearance at both races.

Czech neo pro and former U19 national road champion Matyas Kopecky leads the line alongside Australian rouleur Declan Irvine and Kiwi all-rounder Hamish Beadle with all three coming in hot after a positive week of racing at the Tour of Denmark last week.

“We had probably our best ever Tour of Denmark in the history of the team,” began General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “It’s such an important race for us and I couldn’t think of a better way to carry us into our next objectives in Bulgaria. It will be the first time for our pro team racing at the Tour of Bulgaria and In the Footsteps of the Romans and we’re very excited to be taking part.”

“Matyas, Declan and Hamish all rode well in Denmark and there should be some good opportunities for us to get good results over the seven days of racing and for the guys who are returning to competition after a period without racing it’s time for them to show what they can do.”

French sprinter Mehdi Benhamouda is back after recovering from a broken collarbone with first year professionals Jan Dunnewind and Robbe Ceurens completing the line-up.

“Personally, it was a great experience for me racing at the Tour de Pologne and Tour of Denmark,” said Kopecky. “I learned so much racing at that level and the reception we received in Denmark was just amazing. It will be my first-time racing in Bulgaria, new experiences are always important and I’m looking forward to this next challenge, the stages look to be very tough but I like to begin with a prologue, that kind of short full gas effort suits me well.”

The 67^th edition of the Tour of Bulgaria runs over six stages in five days and begins with a prologue in the capital Sofia, followed by five road stages with one split day of racing on stage three whereas In the Footsteps of the Romans comprises of two days of tough racing around the ski resort of Razlog in southwestern Bulgaria.

Team Novo Nordisk at Tour of Bulgaria & In the Footsteps of the Romans:

Hamish Beadle (NZL, 24)

Mehdi Benhamouda (FR, 27)

Robbe Ceurens (BEL, 21)

Jan Dunnewind (NED, 24)

Declan Irvine (AUS, 23)

Matyas Kopecky (CZ, 19)

Tour of Bulgaria stages:

Saturday 27^th August, Prologue: Sofia, 1km

Sunday 28^th August, Stage 1: Sofia – Plodiv, 177km

Monday 29^th August, Stage 2: Plodiv – Troyan, 106km

Tuesday 30^th August, Stage 3: Troyan – Gabrovo, 72km 3b: Tryavna – Silven, 141km