Tour of China 2

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

Race: Tour of China II, Prologue

Start/Finish: Jianhua/Jianghua

Distance: 5.2 kilometers

Jianhua, China — Team Novo Nordisk kicked off Tour of China II with a solid 5.2 km prologue around Jianghua Centian River with Irishman Stephen Clancy finishing in 22nd position as the best placed #changingdiabetes rider on the day.

The, mostly flat, individual effort was won by Artem Ovechkin who stopped the clock in six minutes and 12 seconds with an average speed of 50.31 km/h.

Team Novo Nordisk who concluded Tour of China I this Saturday, did very well to post two times just outside the top 20 with Clancy being the 22nd fastest on the course, just 15 seconds shy of the winner and his teammate Declan Irving crossing the line in 23rd.

This Tuesday the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team will take on the second stage of Tour of China II in Anshun, totalling 127.8 km and a cat-4 climb.

Stephen Clancy:

“It was a full out, full gas prologue with a couple of corners but no breaks required. In terms of results myself and Declan (Irvine) came in just outside the top 20 so we are pretty pleased, it was a good effort. All the guys gave their best and emptied the tank. We live to fight another day.”

Gallery:

Stage 1 Classification:

1st – Artem Ovechkin (Terengganu Cycling Team) – 00:06:12

2nd – Alistair Christie-Johnston  (Team BridgeLane) 0:00:06

3rd – Sindre Bjerkestrand Haugsvær (Memil – CCN Pro Cycling) – 0:00:07

22nd – Stephen Clancy – 0:00:15

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

Race: Tour of China II – Stage 1

Start/Finish: Jianghua/Jianghua

Anshun — Mehdi Benhamouda took yet another top 10 result for Team Novo Nordisk in China as he sprinted to 8th place on the challenging Stage 1 of Tour of China II.

The fight for positioning was fierce from the start as the technical and narrow roads meant it was crucial to stay upfront to not be caught by any splits. Team Novo Nordisk rode strongly as a team and kept a good position in the main field all day.

Mehdi Benhamouda suffered a crash mid stage but fortunately was still able to stay in the race. The stage was decided in a classic bunch sprint with Frenchman Benhamouda taking a strong 8th place on the line.

Marco Benfatto (Androni Giocattoli) won and Artem Ovechkin (Terengganu Cycling Team) finished safely in the bunch to keep the lead in the overall classification.

Tour of China II continues this Wednesday with an 127.8 km stage in Anshun that includes two intermediated sprints and one Cat-4 climb.

Mehdi Benhamouda:

“In the beginning we faced really narrow roads and the goal for us was to be at the front and not loose the position. The first 60 km of the stage were good but unfortunately I crashed just after we crossed a bridge that narrowed into a small road. Someone touched my front wheel and I crashed when I was going at 60 km/h. I was able to come back to the peloton and to fight in the finish. We don’t have too many opportunities to sprint in Tour of China II as there is a lot more climbing and it’s more for the GC guys. I took an eight place and hopefully I will have another opportunity to sprint and fight for a better result.”

Oliver Behringer:

“As expected it was a really hard stage today. Everyone wanted to be at the front to start in a good position when it got to the narrow and technical roads. As a team we did a good job to stay there and none of us dropped. In the end we tried to help Mehdi (Benhamouda). He had an unfortunate crash mid-stage and we weren’t sure how well he was feeling but he told us during the stage he felt he still as able to sprint and he did really well. We got another top 10 result so overall it was a hard day but I think we can be happy”

Gallery:

Stage 1 Classification

1st – Marco Benfatto (Androni Giocattoli) – 03:13:53

2nd – Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu Cycling Team) 0:00:00

3rd – Nicolas Marini (Tianyoude Hotel Cycling) – 0:00:00

8th – Mehdi Benhamouda (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:00

(Photo: ©Anne Wu)

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

Race: Tour of China II – Stage 3

Start/Finish: Mingshan/Mengding Mountain

Distance: 104.7 kilometers

Mengding Mountain, China— Team Novo Nordisk put up a fighting performance in the Queen stage of Tour of China II that took place this Saturday and took the peloton over 104.7 km of mountainous terrain between Mingshan and the Mengding Mountain.

Swiss neo-pro Oliver Behringer looked forward to the challenge and did very well to stay with the front group until halfway up the final climb, an 8.8km ascent with 6.4% average gradient.

In the end the Costa Rican Kevin Rivera (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) proved to be the strongest climber in the peloton and won solo with four seconds advantage to local favourite Xianjing Lyu (Hengxiang Cycling Team).

Behringer was unable to match the high pace in the final kilometers and crossed the line in 47th position, four minutes down on the stage winner.

Team Novo Nordisk will conclude its participation in Tour of China II this Sunday with the fourth and final stage that consists of 12 laps of a circuit in Mingshan, totaling 94km. A bunch sprint is expected and Frenchman Mehdi Benhamouda will have a final chance to fight for a top result.

Oliver Behringer

“Today was a hilltop finish and we were ready to be at the front when the climb started. The team did a great job all day and we stayed consistently near the front during the entire stage. I was able to save all my energy for the final climb and tried to stay as long as possible with the first group. Unfortunately a few kilometers from the finish I was unable to follow the pace. I was fighting until the finish line and we need to be happy because we did our best today.”

Gallery:

Stage 3 Classification

1st – Kevin Rivera (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) – 02:36:33

2nd – Xianjing Lyu (Hengxiang Cycling Team). – 0:00:04

3rd – José Fernandes (Burgos – BH) – 0:00:04

47th – Oliver Behringer(Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:04:19

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

(Photos: ©Anne Wu)

Race: Tour of China II – Stage 4

Start/Finish: Mingshan/Mingshan

Distance: 94 kilometers

Mingshan, China — Team Novo Nordisk concluded its participation in the Tour of China II with a solid eight place on the fourth and final stage by French sprinter Mehdi Benhamouda.

The short, flat stage made for a high pace race but on the third lap the peloton split and Swiss neo-pro Oliver Behringer did very well to make the front group of around 20 riders. The numerous group opened a gap of around a minute and stayed away until 5 laps to go when the Androni led peloton finally bridged the gap.

In the end, it came down to the predicted bunch sprint and Team Novo Nordisk’s Mehdi Benhamouda took a strong 8th place on the line, replicating his result on stage 2.

Oliver Behringer finished safely in the peloton and secured his 43rd position in the general classification, the best placed Team Novo Nordisk rider.

The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team leaves China with a sizable bounty in terms of results, the highlight being the second place achieved by Benhamouda on stage 5 of Tour of China I. In addition to his podium place the 24-year-old Frenchman notched three other top 10 results in both races.

Mehdi Benhamouda

“Today was the last stage of Tour of China. The race was pretty fast and we had Oliver (Behringer) in the breakaway with 20 guys after a few laps. He did well but the Androni team started to work hard to bring it back and finally the peloton came back together. The team then worked to put me in a good position for the finale. They did a good lead-out and I was able to finish in the top 10 today. I’m happy with the result.”

Gallery:

Stage 3 Classification

1st – Reynard Butler (Protouch) – 01:56:26

2nd – Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu Cycling Team). – 0:00:00

3rd – Mathew Gibson (Burgos – BH) – 0:00:00

8th – Mehdi Benhamouda (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:00