Tour de la Provence

Those expecting an easy start to Tour de la Provence may have been surprised by the nature of racing on the opening day. When it looked like the peloton was happy to settle for a four-rider breakaway, the script got rewritten. The four riders out front enjoyed a maximum gap of 3 minutes until barely halfway through the stage when an acceleration in the peloton caused a split.

Team Novo Nordisk riders finished in the second peloton with David Lozano the team’s best placed finisher on the day.

“Wow it was a bit crazy with the wind and speed,” the Spaniard said. “This is the first race for me and I couldn’t go with the first group and stayed in the second group. It’s a pity we couldn’t get Matyas up there because he had good feelings to be in the first group but that’s stage racing so tomorrow we can try to be better and hopefully, we can recover well.”

20 year old Alessandro Perracchione is now in his second season with Team Novo Nordisk and no doubt gained valuable experience, along with French riders Lucas Dauge and Anton Muller who makes his official debut on the Pro Team this season. 

“We have a mix of youth and experience here at the race,” Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana said. “Back to back race days in stage racing like this allows the older guys to read the race and share knowledge with the younger ones and debrief in the evenings then have another opportunity to go again the next day so we’re looking forward to stage two.” 

Photos: Cassandra Donne Photographies

Matyas Kopecky narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish after sprinting to 12^th on stage 2 of Tour de la Provence. Two riders were away and contested the stage while Kopecky showed fast legs to make the select group and contested the remaining podium place. 

“It felt good to be back to a high level today again. I passed the last climb in 15th position from what was left of the peloton and we were sprinting for 3rd place. I just missed the last bit of power in the sprint but it’s only the second real final that I’ve contested this season so I’m content. The boys did such a great job and my shape is growing,” Kopecky said. 

After yesterday’s stage, Sports Director Massimo Podenzana said the team would do a debrief in the evening among the youthful and experienced roster Team Novo Nordisk has at the race. That seemed to have made an impact, as the correct moves were read today by the world’s first all-diabetes cycling team. 

“Yesterday was maybe not perfect for us but today the feeling was good. The race was on the limit when the two guys rode away so we couldn’t do any more. Our main takeaways today is the feeling was good, the boys helped Matyas a great deal and he is clearly starting to find some shape so we’ll look to finish the race on a strong footing tomorrow,” Podenzana said.

Team Novo Nordisk ended Tour de la Provence on a high note after Matyas Kopecky sprinted to sixth place on the final stage. The 22 year old narrowly missed out on a top 10 on the previous day after finishing 12^th. Quick thinking and quality bike handling skills ensured he avoided a crash in the last 100 meters that happened in front of him today to earn his best result of the season.

“The team was super, we rode on the front part of the bunch and they helped me really well. Then the last kilometers I stayed with Andrea and Umberto, which was really good. I had an angel on my shoulder with that crash at 200m to go. But that’s also where my cyclo-cross background came in good use,” Kopecky said. 

This was Team Novo Nordisk’s first participation in Tour de la Provence. Today’s stage was the longest over 190 kilometers. It took almost 80 kilometers for a breakaway to go but they were never given much more than two minutes. The peloton left it until the last moment to bring it back where it became clear a bunch sprint was contested. 

“The race is nice, but we had to really concentrate today with a lot of road furniture and today the crash was caused by a speedbump in the last 200m but in general, it was a good race for us. We’re leaving here with a very positive feeling.” Kopecky said. 

“This was our first participation here and we can leave with our heads held high,” Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana said. “Today in the final you could see the team in the front and really looking after each other. We got better each day and the riders can take this confidence with them into the next races.” 

Photos: Cassandra Donne