Full Speed Time Trial Kicks Off Tour de Tochigi

23 March 2018

Race: Tour de Tochigi, prologue

Start/Finish: Yanaka/Yanaka, Japan

Distance: 7.25 kilometers

Yanaka, Japan – Team Novo Nordisk kicked off its first 2018 race in Japan on Friday, with a flat, short and fast prologue at the 2018 edition of Tour de Tochigi.

Sam Brand had the squad’s top time on the 7.25km circuit along the Yanaka reservoir, a popular destination for sailboating and windsurfing. The riders battled some wind as they raced at full speed against the clock, with day time temperatures around 48ºF/9ºC on a flat road with few technical turns.

Australian rider Michael Potter (Australian Cycling Academy – Ride Sunshine Coast) won the opening stage, 10 seconds ahead of Japan’s Nariyuki Madsuda (Utsunomiya Blitzen).

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes all cycling team, continues racing tomorrow at Tour de Tochigi, with the 105.4-km stage 1 from Oyama to Nikko.

Emanuel Mini:

“Today was a special day for me because it was my first race with the Pro Team. Today was a hard and fast 7km time trial, and we made some changes to our Colnago Concept road bike, using a 54 crankset for the time trial. The weather on the course was windy but the temperature was ok, and we went after our best result. Tomorrow, we have the second day at Tour de Tochigi, and everyone will try get the leader’s jersey and earn points.”