PostNord Danmark Rundt – Tour of Denmark

Northern Italian Filippo Ridolfo is rapidly becoming the go-to breakaway specialist for Team Novo Nordisk as the 21-year-old from Udine ticked the box yet again on the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark before securing the team’s first podium in the race and slipping into the best young riders jersey.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“That’s a great start for us today in one of our most important races of the season. We couldn’t have hoped for a better display of intent in the home of our sponsors with Filippo straight into the first breakaway of the race and onto our first ever podium in Denmark with the best young riders jersey.”

“Matyas did very well in the final and came close to the top ten in the sprint finishing just outside in 13th. It was tough conditions throughout the second half of the stage with the rain but the result is great for us and we’ll do our best to defend the jersey tomorrow.”

Filippo Ridolfo:

“Declan tried first, but it was the third attack that went and I followed that move and it turned out to be the right one. The first 20km I really struggled, partly with the fatigue from Poland but I felt better with each kilometer and started to settle in.”

“There was a really good rotation in the group until we hit the first of the closing circuits and at that point we knew that the sprinters teams were pulling. Massimo told me on the radio to stay calm and make sure I finished in the group and that’s all I tried to do, thankfully I made it.

“This is big for us to be able to achieve this as a team in a race that is so special for us, today was one for everyone out there who lives with diabetes and I’ll do all I can to hold on to the jersey for as long as possible.”

Photos: Mario Stiehl

Team Novo Nordisk went into the second stage of the Tour of Denmark with two goals: to keep Filippo Ridolfo in the best young riders jersey and support Czech fast man Matyas Kopecky in the final sprint.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Absolutely fantastic work by the whole team today, we went in with two objectives and we came out with two achievements. Filippo did exactly as he needed to and finished in the front of the bunch to hold onto the white young riders jersey and Matyas flew in the final to tick off a top ten.”

“Tomorrow’s stage is the hardest and longest in the race so it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to retain the jersey, but that’s the plan and we’ll do all we can to achieve it.”

Filippo Ridolfo:

“It was a pretty nervy stage and took a while for the break to go, longer than yesterday and I think I probably felt more tense because I was focused on staying in a good  position right from the start and keeping hold of the jersey.”

“The boys really helped out all day and the hard part came on the final laps with the short climb and high speeds, but we made it and to have Matyas get a top ten in the sprint was the cherry on top.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“As Filippo said the laps were tough and we flew into them once the break was caught, I kind of felt like there were little whirlwinds all over the place and tried to stay focused on right wheel in front of me.”

“The sprint was all across the road and wide open, we got a good look at it two times and when it unfolded I was well placed and I felt like my top end was really good. Top ten and keeping Filippo in white was the goal and that’s what we did. For today at least, job done.”

Photos: Mario Stiehl

It wasn’t to be for Team Novo Nordisk on stage three of the Tour of Denmark as the team went all out to keep hold of the best young rider jersey with young stars Filippo Ridolfo and Matyas Kopecky both in close contention.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“We enjoyed two fantastic days in white, but we knew it was going to be a hard task and our goal was to fight to either keep the jersey or at the very least to remain as close to it as possible to retain another chance tomorrow.”

“The parcours didn’t suit Filippo’s characteristics at all, so we had an idea that Matyas had the best chance on the final circuits and maybe next year as he develops some more he would stay in the front group. But this time around he gave it a great shot and lost contact with the leaders on the last lap.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“The first two laps I got dropped on the climb but both times made it back into the group, but the third time around I blew and that was it. I tried to conserve as much energy as possible over the last few kilometers, but I’m feeling it now.”

“Of course we’ll have to see how we recover for tomorrow, it’s a sprint stage and it’s also a long one at 180km, so it won’t be straightforward but we’ll try our best to make another result.”

Photo credits: Mario Stiehl

Italian sprinter Andrea Peron went on a mission for Team Novo Nordisk on the fourth stage of the Tour of Denmark, sprinting into the team’s second top ten of the week beside Novo Nordisk HQ in Bagsværd.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“There’s no doubt about it, this is the best performance we have ever produced at the Tour of Denmark. Achieving our second top ten of the race with Andrea was a perfect way to wrap up the road stages.”

“We wanted to produce the goods again today, the finish was right by the head quarters of our sponsor Novo Nordisk, we passed by the HQ of our bike sponsor Argon 18 on the road and these two things definitely played a part in our motivation. The guys rode well as a team all day and that culminated with Andrea and Matyas together going into the final giving us two strong options for the sprint.”

Andrea Peron:

“It’s like the guys told me over the last few days I’m not too old to make top ten in these sprints, maybe their right after all! I wasn’t feeling great throughout the stages so far but today I was back to my usual self.”

“We knew how important it was to try and get another result today, not only for our sponsors, but also for ourselves. We wanted to keep our run going qnd keep the level high which we did. Now we can go into tomorrows time trial and enjoy it, relaxed in the knowledge that we’ve had our best ever Tour of Denmark.”

Photo credits: Mario Stiehl

The worlds first all diabetes professional cycling team ended a fantastic week of racing at the Tour of Denmark on the coast in Helsingør at Saturday’s individual time trial with Czech star Matyas Kopecky the fastest finisher for Team Novo Nordisk.

Five days of hard racing began successfully in Aalborg with Italian Rouleur Filippo Ridolfo jumping straight into the breakaway and into the best young rider jersey for the team’s first jersey in their home race. Ridolfo held the white jersey for three stages with both Kopecky and team captain Andrea Peron achieving top ten finishes on stages two and four respectively.

General manager Vassili Davidenko:

“This is without doubt our most successful ever appearance at the Tour of Denmark and to be able to produce strong performances day in day out in front of our sponsors Novo Nordisk is truly amazing.”

“This is what it’s all about, performing well while driving change in diabetes and carrying our message everywhere we go. Ours is a unique team and I think we demonstrated this week just how important this team is.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“It’s been such an incredible week here in Denmark. Everything from our performance to the activities with Novo Nordisk and Argon 18 and the amazing fans we have met on every stage has been out of this world.”

“We know every race can’t go as well as this, but to come out of Poland with my first WorldTour top ten to then come here and have Filippo in the white jersey for three days, achieve another top ten and then have Andrea do the same in yesterdays sprint is almost a perfect way to wrap this race up.”

Photo credits: Mario Stiehl