Team Novo Nordisk line up with young squad at Czech Tour
25 July 2023
The world’s first all diabetes professional cycling team head to the Czech Republic this week with a young team focused on development and gaining experience at the four-day Czech Tour.
Former Finnish champion Joonas Henttala lines up alongside Kiwi Hamish Beadle and Belgian neo pro Quinten De Graeve.
“We’re looking forward to being back racing in the Czech Republic and lining up at the Czech Tour later this week,” said General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “It’s a beautiful race with a tough parcours and a very strong field of competitors this year.”
“It will be a good experience for our guys, we have a mixed team of youth and experience and the aim is to do the best we can while taking a big step forward with the development of our younger riders”
Compatriots Lucas Dauge and Doriand Percrule complete the team alongside Brit Nathan Smith and 24-year-old Italian Antonio Polga.
“This will be my first time racing at the Czech Tour,” said Beadle. “But I have raced in the Czech Republic before and really enjoyed it.”
“Every stage has really decent climbs, and I’m looking forward to seeing how my legs go. The first stage is possibly a sprint, so I am keen for that and we’ll work hard to be up there.”
“We have some of the younger development boys with us here, so I believe it will be a good learning curve for them racing at this level. Personally I want to see if I can make it over some of these climbs in the front and ultimately use it as a solid training block for the coming races.”
The 12th edition of the Czech Tour will cover 663.1 kilometers and climb over 11,000 altitude meters through stunning countryside before coming to a close in Šternberk in the Olomouc region.
Team Novo Nordisk at Czech/Sazka Tour, 27th – 30th July:
Hamish Beadle (NZL, 25)
Quinten De Graeve (BEL, 23)
Lucas Dauge (FR, 26)
Joonas Henttala (FIN, 31)
Doriand Percrule (FR, 24)
Antonio Polga (IT, 24)
Nathan Smith (GBR, 22)
Stages:
Thursday 27th July, Stage 1: Prostejov – Unicov, 165km
Friday 28th July, Stage 2: Olomouc – Pustevny, 166.9km
Saturday 29th July, Stage 3: Moravska Trebova – Cervenohorske sedlo, 161.5km
Sunday 30th July, Stage 4: Sumperk – Sternberk, 176.2km
Photo credit: Sprint Cycling