Team Novo Nordisk take momentum into French block of racing

Team Novo Nordisk will be looking to take its recent success into the next block of one-day races it prepares to take on in France. La Roue Tourangelle (24th March), Paris – Camembert (27th March) and Route Adélie de Vitré (29th March) is what awaits the world’s first all-diabetes cycling team. 

The team has enjoyed recent success in Cholet Agglo Tour where Matyas Kopecky placed 5th along with a couple of top tens from Andrea Peron in the Tour of Taiwan. 

“We’ve enjoyed a very good start to our ‘spring campaign’ and the riders should be motivated by that,” said General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “Matyas produced a great ride at Koksijde and didn’t end up with a result – sometimes it works out like that – but he went again two days later at Cholet and came away with a top five. That shows character within the team and highlights what we are trying to achieve with the younger riders that are coming through.”

“It will be great to have Andrea back racing in Europe after a successful return to competition in Taiwan last week. Having him alongside Matyas gives us more options for the finals in this busy next week of racing in France starting with Roue Tourangelle on Sunday, Paris Camembert and then Route Adelie de Vitre.”

“This is where we get into the serious racing and I’m excited to see what we can do over the next few races, one after the other can be a good for an athlete. You race and recover, race and recover. Keep the stress levels low and stay focused.”

The 21-year-old Kopecky says he is enjoying the rewards of hard training in the winter and is motivated by his performance in recent weeks.  

“We have had some good and bad luck recently but I’m happy we have some results to show how well we’ve been riding as a team,” Kopecky said. 

“I’m happy with where my form is at and after last Sunday I have eyes on the prize and high motivation for the next block. I’m glad Andrea is joining us here after showing some good form in Taiwan so it’s great for me to have some of the more experienced guys there to learn from. Sometimes it’s good to do a few one day races spaced out over a week because if something didn’t go right, you know you have time to reset and another opportunity is coming soon again.”

Team Novo Nordisk Squad, La Roue Tourangelle (24th March), Paris – Camembert (27th March), Route Adélie de Vitré (29th March)

Hamish Beadle (NZL, 25)
Sam Brand (GBR, 32)
Quinten De Graeve (BEL, 23)
Lucas Dauge (FR, 27)
Matyas Kopecky (CZ, 21)
Andrea Peron (IT, 35)
Charles Planet (FR, 31)
Antonio Polga (IT, 24)
Filippo Ridolfo (IT, 22)
Nathan Smith (GBR, 23)