Safe and United in Windy Suzhou stage 2 in Taihu Lake

Stage 2 of the Tour of Taihu Lake brought another fast and nervous day of racing for Team Novo Nordisk, as crosswinds and tension in the bunch made for a stressful 100-kilometer stage around Suzhou Wujiang.

Despite the tricky conditions, the world’s all-diabetes professional cycling team stayed organized and avoided trouble, with Matyáš Kopecký leading the team home in 24th place.

“It was pretty stressful because there was a little wind, just enough to put pressure on the bunch, but not enough to split it,” explained David Lozano after the stage. “That made the day quite nervous, but we managed to stay safe. In the finale, Matyáš and Andrea were preparing for the sprint, but I think they lost each other a bit, which prevented a better result. Overall, though, we were together all day and stayed out of trouble.”

All six riders finished safely in the bunch, keeping the team’s morale and cohesion high heading into the weekend stages.

The race continues on Saturday with Stage 3 from Nantong to Qidong (79.2 km) — another short and explosive day expected to end in a bunch sprint.