Reduced Squad Battles at Tour of China II

19 September 2016

Race: Tour of China II, stage 1

Start/Finish: Yangxin / Yangxin, China

Distance: 121.6 kilometers

Yangxin, China – The four-man Team Novo Nordisk squad, led by Italian rider Andrea Peron, fought to stay in the mix on Monday’s stage 1 of Tour of China II.

“It’s not easy to race with just four riders,” said Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov, “especially when we need to follow the constant breakaway attempts. Gerd [de Keijzer] has really good legs and he covered a lot of breaks and pulled for Andrea at the end. Corentin [Cherhal] is still recovering from his stomach bug, but hopefully he will be 100% for the next stages. Our stagiaire, Quentin [Valognes], did well to cover some attacks today and was a sweeper behind Andrea in the chaotic, full field sprint.”

Marco Benfatto (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) out sprinted Nicolas Marini (Nippo – Vini Fantini) to take the stage win, and Peron came in best for Team Novo Nordisk at 22nd. “Although today was not my best,” Peron said. “I hope to do something next stages.”

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing tomorrow at stage 2 of Tour of China II, which is comprised of 127.8kilometers through China’s Shaoshan county.