Tough opening day on the climbs at Vuelta Asturias

28 April 2023

Strong teamwork from Team Novo Nordisk saw veteran Hungarian climber Peter Kustzor give his all to stay with the leaders over the trio of final climbs on stage one at the Vuelta Asturias eventually finishing in the second group on the road.

Sports Director Gennady Milkhaylov:

“We know all about how hard the Vuelta Asturias is and todays opener was certainly a challenge with five categorized climbs coming in 181km. The break went very early, only two guys and we just tried to do our best to stay together in the bunch that inevitably began to fracture as the day went on.”

“Peter did well again and Charles did a great job of trying to position Peter as the selection formed with around 30km to go and it was good to see the guys working together. Peter did his best and finished not far behind the leaders, so all in all we had a positive start.”

Peter Kustzor:

“My overall feeling was good today and I felt strong all the way. Once the breakaway duo went it settled down a little, but Eolo and Movistar led the peloton and kept the gap at around three minutes, so you knew it was going to explode again”

“The boys all did a good job today and Charles especially gave everything to keep me at the front for the steep La Cabana climb with about 30km to go. I started in a good position, but the pace was very high and I couldn’t hold onto the leading group. we tried to make contact again before the final, but by then even the leaders had split and I finished in the second group.”