Baloise Belgium Tour

A hectic and explosive opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour saw Italian Andrea Peron bouncing back from Sunday’s crash and sprinting well to take 14th place for Team Novo Nordisk.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“When I saw the parcours for this year’s race I knew today was going to be a scrappy stage and that’s exactly how it turned out. We had a few flats, Matyas crashed and with the split peloton there was no way to regroup, so thanks to Andrea for such a strong ride and saving the day.”

“He held on impressively on the cobbles and up the short climbs and if he hadn’t been boxed in through the last 500 meters he would have been top ten for sure.”

Andrea Peron:

“I had great legs today and I felt good throughout. After crashing hard on Sunday I wasn’t sure about how I was going to go today, the team medical staff have been great the last couple of days and really looked after my knee, so a big thanks to them.”

“It was a pretty tense opener and you could feel that it was ready to blow when Van der Poel made his first attack and there were a couple of moments where I thought that we wouldn’t catch them. But it came back in time for the finale, I followed DSM’s lead out, surfed a little and then 500 meters to go was blocked on the right and top 15 was the best I could do.”

Photo: sprint cycling agency

It was bound to come at some point and for Team Novo Nordisk it came on the second day of racing at the Baloise Belgium Tour when echelons and a series of mechanicals saw the world’s first all diabetes professional cycling team caught the wrong side of the split and chasing a train that had already left the station.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Not our day today, that’s for sure. We had some bad luck with mechanicals at the wrong time and Declan crashed again, but we could have been positioned much better at crucial times and maybe done more to avoid getting caught out when the group split.”

“We have the Individual Time Trial coming up tomorrow and there’s no hiding there, so we’ll see how we do.”

Andrea Peron:

“We were too far back today, there’s no two ways about it. If we want to fight for results in this kind of race we need to be together and as close to the front as possible because when the WorldTour teams turn on the gas in the wind, we’re not making it back in.”

“Thanks to the fans that came to see us at the bus this morning, it’s always great to see young people living with diabetes coming out to meet us at races and letting us know that no matter the result, we’re doing some good.”

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Peter Kusztor may be the oldest rider competing at the Baloise Belgium Tour but he’s still carrying speed in the time trials for Team Novo Nordisk as the 38-year-old former Hungarian national TT champion put the hammer down on the third stage and recorded the team’s best time.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“We didn’t come into today’s TT with any expectations, for the guys it was just about doing the best they could. Peter didn’t surprise me at all we know how strong he is and we know he’s an experienced chronoman, so well done to him and we look ahead to tomorrow now.”

Peter Kusztor:

“I always like the TT, it’s a pure race. Only against yourself, the conditions and of course the clock. So I just tried to do the best I could and push the maximum.”

“I felt pretty good, I’m not a young man anymore and in a stage race like this even if I’m going to the limit in a TT, I’m still thinking about the next day so in that sense today’s effort over 15km was manageable.”

Former Hungarian champion Peter Kusztor is enjoying a run of form at the Baloise Belgium Tour finishing within the top 40 riders on todays Queen Stage and giving Team Novo Nordisk and the diabetes community something to smile about.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Peter yet again was our best rider today, with 3,000m climbing coming over 170km and in hot conditions we knew it wasn’t going to be a day for Andrea or Matyas, so Peter was free to ride his own race and he did very well.”

“His age doesn’t come into it for me, he’s a great example to the young guys with his professionalism and he’s in good shape. He’s also an inspiration for the whole diabetes community and let’s not forget, that’s why we’re here.”

Peter Kusztor:

“Of course it was a hard day today, Queen stages are never easy and I tried to stay as far up the field as possible for as long as I could, but on the final lap the front of the race split apart and even more so on the climb up to the finish.”

“We’re here to do our best and share our message with everyone about what is possible with diabetes, but we also want results and strive to achieve our goals so let’s go all in tomorrow and try to get another top ten.”

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency

A challenging week of racing at the Baloise Belgium Tour came to an end in Brussels for Team Novo Nordisk with 20 year old Matyas Kopecky finishing just off the pace in 19th.

Sports Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Basically we started the week at Hageland and Elfstedenronde last weekend and straight into the Belgium Tour on Wednesday and results wise we’re disappointed. Yes, the crash on Sunday affected the guys physically and mentally, but we’ve shown throughout this season that we can do better than what we come away with so more lessons are here to be learned.”

“We have a period with races to reset now, train and get ready for our big objectives at the Tour de Pologne and Tour of Denmark. They’re our important season goals and we need be ready to go again in late July.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“I haven’t had great legs this week and I know in myself and us a team that we can do better. We came in to the Belgium Tour with goals of getting in the breakaway and trying to get some results in the sprints, but this time around we didn’t achieve those goals.”

“For sure we had some bad luck with crashes, but that’s the same for everyone. The experience is great for us and racing against some of the best guys in the world is always valuable, but we want to be competing and not just finishing and personally I know I can learn a lot from the last few days.”

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency