Team Novo Nordisk Opens UAE Tour with Team Time Trial

24 February 2019

Race: UAE Tour, Stage 1

Start/Finish: Al Hudayriat Island/ Al Hudayriat Island, United Arab Emirates

Distance: 16 kilometers

Abu Dhabi, UAE — Team Novo Nordisk began the seven-day UAE Tour on Sunday with a 16-kilometer team time trial (TTT). This was the team’s first TTT in nearly two years — since the 2017 Tirreno-Adriatico. With sunny skies and nearly no wind, seven riders from the world’s first all-diabetic professional cycling team set out as the second team on course.

A team time trial is a unique discipline where athletes compete as teams against the clock. Team Novo Nordisk raced on their Colnago K-Zero framesets equipped with rear disc wheels, Catlike aerodynamic helmets and Vision- Full Speed Ahead technical handlebars and extensions. The flat, fast course featured wide-angle turns and only two U-turns to slow down speeds.

Team Jumbo-Visma won the stage in 16:30. Team Novo Nordisk finished 1:46 off the pace with an average speed of 51.659kph.

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing at the UAE Tour on Monday with Stage 2. The 184-kilometer stage begins at Yas Island and features two intermediate sprints before finishing at Yas Mall. Another squad is currently racing at the Tour du Rwanda.

Peter Kusztor

“We were all a little nervous this morning because this isn’t a discipline that we do often and none of us had trained together until practice yesterday. We learned quickly, listened to one another and took strong turns. I would say we executed very well for a team that doesn’t focus on the team time trial.”