Tough Mountain Stage at Tour of Hainan

27 October 2016

Race: Tour of Hainan, Stage 6

Start/Finish: Changjiang / Wuzhishan, China

Distance: 197.2 kilometers

Changjiang, China —Thursday’s stage 6 of the Tour of Hainan was the first real mountain stage of the 9-day race, and the Team Novo Nordisk squad fought hard to keep up with the stronger Pro Tour climbers.

Early into the 197.2-km stage, six riders managed to pull away, and as they passed the first categorized climb, the leaders had built a maximum advantage of just over 5:00.

“Today was very hot again,” Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov. “and much of the stage was controlled by Astana at a moderate pace.”

The peloton continued to chip away at the gap, and with 25km to go, the last of the breakaway riders had been reeled in. From there on, the riders were competing for position. “Our boys waited until the final climb, and then everyone fought for their place,” Cherkasov said.

Riders began to drop as the peloton ascended the final climb at 20km to go, and several riders at the front went on the attack, with three riders managing to go clear.

The trio was able to stay away on the descent, and Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merida) went on to the stage win. Team Novo Nordisk riders Brian Kamstra and Joonas Henttala finished with the chasers at 47th and 54th respectively.

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing tomorrow at Tour of Hainan with the 127.4-km stage 7 from Wuzhishan to Sanya.