Team Novo Nordisk head straight to Limousin from Denmark
16 August 2021
With a solid week of racing in their legs from the Tour of Denmark, the world’s first all diabetes professional cycling team go into Tuesday’s Tour du Limousin ready to roll.
The 54th edition of the four-day race takes place around Limoges in the historic region of Limousin, south west of the mountainous Massif Central and Team Novo Nordisk will be looking to make the most out of the 700 kilometer race and the opportunities on offer.
Spanish climber David Lozano and Italian sprinter Andrea Peron will lead the team after coming in direct from the Tour of Denmark with Brit Sam Brand supporting after also stretching his legs on Danish soil.
“We had a hard week in Denmark there’s no getting away from it,” began Head Sports Director Massimo Podenzana. “We had objectives that we wanted to reach and unfortunately we missed some of them. In Limousin we will be looking to rectify that, get up the road in the breakaway and go for some results.”
“It’s unfortunate the Declan crashed on the last stage in the time trial he’s been having a solid season this year I was going well in Denmark however Sammy Munday comes in to take his place with one Australian for another Summers had a good block of training at home and he’s ready to race. David was also looking good in Denmark I hope that this course in France and the hilly stages can bring out the best of his characteristics.”
French sprinter Mehdi Benhamouda makes his long-awaited return to racing after suffering a broken collarbone at the Tour de Hongrie and will be joined by American Logan Phippen, Finnish road champion Joonas Henttala and young Aussie climber Sam Munday.
“I’m looking forward to coming back to race in France,” said Peron. “We enjoyed racing in Limousin the last few times we’ve done it and now, after a good week in Denmark with our sponsors we are ready to go. As a team we know that we may not have had the results that we wanted, but we bonded well again, and the team spirit is good.”
“The stages are always hard at the Tour du Limousin, because of the terrain is so up and down in the area close to the Massif Central, it’s really well-known for that and we are aiming to enjoy the challenge, stick together in the finals and try and get some good results”
Team Novo Nordisk at Tour du Limousin, 17th – 20th August:
Mehdi Benhamouda (FR, 26)
Sam Brand (GBR, 30)
Joonas Henttala (FIN, 30)
David Lozano (ESP, 32)
Sam Munday (AUS, 22)
Andrea Peron (IT, 32)
Logan Phippen (USA, 29)
Stages:
Tuesday 17th August, Stage 1: Isle – Sainte-Feyre, 183.3km
Wednesday 18th August, Stage 2: Agonac – Payzac, 172km
Thursday 19th August, Stage 3: Bugeat – Espace 1000 Sources – Lubersac, 184.2km
Friday 20th August, Stage 4: Sauviat-sur-Vige – Limoges, 169.7km