Brand and Mackie Feature in the Breakaway Before Crash Mars Stage 3 of Tour of Taihu Lake

Team Novo Nordisk was back on the front foot at the Tour of Taihu Lake, with Sam Brand and Donovan Mackie both making the breakaway on a fast, unsettled stage 3, before Mackie was caught up in a crash 30 kilometres from the finish.

The race never let up from the start, with bonus sprints on the finish line of the first two of three laps keeping the peloton on edge.

“It was full gas again today,” Brand said. “As every day, it’s important to be active and on the front foot. I wanted to be in the break, and we knew there was a sprint for bonus seconds towards the end of the first two laps, so a breakaway would have to be select. I chose a few moves, but the race didn’t settle at all – it stayed ‘on’ all day.”

Brand and Mackie both found themselves in the mix as moves came and went, with Brand later bridging across to a select group ahead of the second bonus sprint.

“I bridged to 10 guys about 8km from the second sprint, and Bailey followed,” Brand said. “We did our best in a small group of 25 riders, but it all came back together just after the sprint.”

Mackie’s day was cut short when he was brought down in a crash with around 30 kilometres still to race, one of several incidents in a nervy finale. With a broken wrist he had to withdraw from the race and end his last race of the season early, but luckily it was nothing too serious.

With the racing back together, the team regrouped to work for Célestin Wattelle in the run to the line.

“We rode strong and in great position as a team over the last 10km to set up Célestin for the sprint,” Brand said. “It was a bit hectic, with a few crashes.”

Wattelle finished 17th, a solid performance. The signals by the team remain positive as we look to bring home a result in the last two stages of the race.