Adriatica Ionica

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Adriatica Ionica, Criterium

Start/Finish: Mestre/Mestre, Italy

Distance: 81.5 kilometers

Team Novo Nordisk made their official debut in Adriatica Ionica Race in an electric twilight criterium in Mestre, on the outskirts of Venice. Frenchman Charles Planet showcased the Changing Diabetes jersey at the front of the race and survived the multiple splits to finish in the main bunch.

The second edition of the Italian stage race Adriatica Ionica Race kicked off this Wednesday with a criterium style opener consisting of 30 laps of a 2.7km urban circuit in Mestre for a total of 81.5km. With no times being taken at the finish line only the stage honours and first sprint jersey were up for grabs which meant half way through the race multiple riders from several teams called it a day and pulled out so they wouldn’t be lapped.

Initially many riders tried to break clear but all the moves were swiftly reeled in by the Deceunick – Quickstep led peloton. The tempo was lively from the start but with 15 km to go the main field began to split with the turn of speed dictated by the sprinters teams. Italian Andrea Peron, who was racing a stone’s throw away from his home town, and Charles Planet did well to stay in contention at the front of the race, the latter finishing just a few minutes after the day’s victory Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) who out-sprinted Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck Quick-step) in a selective sprint.

The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team continues to race in Northern Italy this Thursday in the 189 km stage 2 that starts in Venezia – Favaro Veneto and finishes in Grado. The route includes over 50 km of sterrato, or dirt sectors, in the last part of the stage and will certainly provide the backdrop for some exciting racing.

CHARLES PLANET

“It was a pretty technical circuit and with a 135 riders it was a rather big bunch for this kind of circuit. The first half of the race was a pretty fast but the tempo was quite okay. 15 kilometers to go (Deceunick) Quick-step started to pull really hard and the race split up into a single line all the time. I tried to do my best and get some confidence for the next days because in the end there were actually not many riders left in the group and I was still there, so overall not a bad day for my first race back to competition in this second part of the season.”

Gallery:

Stage 1 Classification

1st – Phil Bauhaus(Bahrain-Merida)

2nd – Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck Quick-Step)

3rd – Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Adriatica Ionica Race, Stage 1

Start/Finish: Venezia/Grado

Distance: 189 kilometers

Mestre, Italy — Team Novo Nordisk put up a fighting performance in Thursday’s first stage of Adriatica Ionica Race, with local talent Umberto Poli riding strongly in the breakaway for over 100km. Six sterrato sections in the second half of the stage provided exhilarating backdrop to some explosive racing, a challenge that our Changing Diabetes squad overcame with flying colours.

Scorching sun and hot temperatures set the tone for the mercurial bike racing that took place over the 189 km stage which started in Venezia and headed north to finish in the scenic seaside location of Grado. The world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team was eager to show the GSG jersey at the front of the race and Umberto Poli took the initiative early on with a powerful attack, breaking clear of the peloton. The 22-year-old Italian was joined by other four riders and together they carved a sizable gap of over five minutes after 30km.

The main field kept the advantage of the quintet in check and by the time Poli and his breakaway companions entered the first of six gravel sections – or sterrato as the Italians designate them – the gap was down to just two minutes. The grueling surface took a toll on the escapees and after a crash that took down Guy Niv (Israeli Cycling Academy) Poli was unable to keep the wheels and was reeled back in by the charging peloton.

David Lozano, Andrea Peron, Charles Planet and Peter Kusztor kept their position in the main group and stayed on the right side of the splits after the sterrato claimed casualties in an alarming rate.

The decisive selection happened in the penultimate gravel sector, with 33 km to go, with all but 22 riders forging ahead.

In the end, Deceuninck – Quickstep, dominated the proceedings and took a clean sweep of the podium with Alvaro Hodeg winning the stage ahead of teammates Florian Sénéchal and Philippe Gilbert.

Team Novo Nordisk put in a great collective effort to then set up Andrea Peron for the finale in the first chase group and the fast Italian delivered, winning the sprint which guaranteed him a 23rd position on the day.

This Friday the second edition of Adriatica Ionica Race heads into mountainous terrain and the peloton will face the Queen Stage, a 204 km ordeal with four KOM’s including two Cat-1 climbs and a summit finish in the mythical Tre Cime Lavaredo.

UMBERTO POLI:

“Today I was able to go on the breakaway. Initially I went with just one other rider in the first kilometers but afterwards we were joined by three others. We worked well together all day but as we entered the first gravel road one of guys crashed and I dropped a little bit so the peloton caught me just after this first gravel section. I then stayed together with my teammates in the main group for the second sterrato. Unfortunately I suffered a lot with the heat today. It was nearly 40 degrees (celsius) which is way too hot for me. Still I’m very happy with my performance. This is an important race for me because it’s in my region (Veneto area) and I really enjoyed my day out there. I had good legs and did a good job for the team.”

Gallery:

Stage 1 Classification

1st – Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck – Quickstep) – 4:09:58

2nd – Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck – Quickstep) –

3rd – Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck – Quickstep) –

23rd – Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:01:38

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Adriatica Ionica Race – Stage 2

Start/Finish: Palmanova/Lago di Misurina

Distance: 204 kilometers

Sappada, Italy — Team Novo Nordisk survived a long and hard day in the saddle in the queen stage of Adriatica Ionica Race with two-times Hungarian national champion Péter Kusztor showing his fighting spirit over 204 kilometers and over 4000 meters of climbing. Mark Padun (Team Bahrain Merida) was the victor on a day of inclement weather.

A three-rider breakaway got the green light from the peloton early on and animated the first half of the stage which started in Palmanova under difficult conditions of humidity and high temperatures.

Several riders struggled in the hot weather, which led several to abandons as the race hit the first of the four climbs of the day. The lead trio had carved a healthy seven minute gap on the bunch but the last escapee was caught in Sella Ciampigotto, the final CAt-1 climb, as the favorites put the hammer down. The high tempo shrunk the peloton to just 20 riders with Péter Kusztor unable to make the cut.

Behind the sudden turn in weather conditions saw the chasing groups get caught in a powerful hailstorm with the temperatures dipping suddenly from over 30 to 10 degrees celsius.

Team Novo Nordisk was hit by misfortune as our Spaniard David Lozano crashed in the final descent and was forced to abandon the race with a little over 30 kilometers remaining. Fortunately the 30-year-old climber escaped with minor injuries and should be fit to return to racing shortly.

Padun proved to be the strongest on the day and took the stage win in a select group sprint and, with it, the leader’s jersey.

Kusztor took no chances in the tricky weather conditions and crossed the finish line in Lago di Misurina in 47th position as our best placed rider.

The world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team will take on the third stage of Adriatica Ionica race this Saturday, a 204.5 km affair that will start in Padola and conclude in Cormons with a far flatter parcours that should favor a bunch sprint.

PÉTER KUSZTOR

“It was a really hard, especially in the start with temperatures over 35 degrees. We tried to go in the breakaway but were unsuccessful so we stayed in the bunch and tried our best to safe the legs for the climbs. The first climb was not exactly easy but the tempo was not so fast so I was able to stay in the first 20 positions but the second climb was already full gas. I tried my best to stay at the front but I dropped. I found a strong group and we pushed all the way to the finish. In the final 30km it was pretty cold and we were hit by a hailstorm and then it rained all the way to the end.”

Gallery:

Stage 2 Classification

1st – Mark Padun (Bahrain Merida) – 5:54:16

2nd – Dayer Quintana (Neri Sottoli) – “

3rd – Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) – “

47th – Péter Kusztor (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:30:26

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Adriatica Ionica Race – Stage 3

Start/Finish: Padola/Monte Quarin

Distance: 204.5 kilometers

Monte Quarin, Italy — Charles Planet was one of the key protagonists of stage three of Adriatica Ionica Race as he put up a great breakaway performance for over 150 km, proudly showcasing the Team Novo Nordisk colors at the front of the race.

One day after suffering to finish the queen stage due to the extreme heat the 25-year-old Frenchman was determined to make his mark on the race and went on the attack in the early kilometers, successfully making the day’s breakaway. Planet was joined at the front by Fausto Masnada (Androni-Sidermec), Etienne Van Empel (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM), Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Roompot-Charles) and Xavier Cañellas (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and the strong quintet swiftly opened a solid gap to the peloton.

After 20 km the escapees had an advantage of over three minutes and 30 seconds and as the day progress the bunch allowed that to creep to over five minutes before Deceuninck – Quickstep and Trek Segafredo decided it was time to get to work.

Van Ginneken was the first escapee to drop and afterwards Cañellas suffered a crash which dictated the end of his own breakaway efforts. Planet proved to be one of the strongest in the front group but was unable to follow a blitz attack from Masnada who went solo on the final Cat 3 climb of the day, in San Floriano del Collio, 25 km from the finish in Monte Quarin.

Our breakaway specialist was caught by Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quickstep), who had attacked from the bunch, some minutes later and folded into the peloton soon after, riding conservatively to the finish.

Evenepoel powered to a solo win taking two minutes and 13 seconds on the main field while his teammate and countryman Philippe Gilbert was took second place.

For the second day in a row Peter Kusztor was Team Novo Nordisk’s best placed rider. The two times Hungarian national road champion did very well to stay with the best riders until the decisive kilometers and crossed the finishing line inside the top 50.

The second edition of Adriatica Ionica Race concludes this Sunday with a 135.5km stage from Cormons to Trieste that should finish in a bunch sprint.

CHARLES PLANET

“Yesterday I had a bad day and tried to save my legs as much as I could to hopefully have a good day today and it happened. I was really focused to get in the breakaway and It was a really good stage, somewhat technical with many short climbs. I really enjoyed it and felt really good today. It was a really strong breakaway today and we had a really good gap. I missed a little something in the end but I’m happy with my performance. I spoke with some World Tour riders later and they told me they were going really deep in the peloton so for sure this was a pretty strong breakaway.”

Gallery:

Stage 3 Classification:

1st – Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quickstep) – 4:09:58

2nd – Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck – Quickstep) – “

3rd – Maurits Lammertink (Roompot – Charles) – “

43rd – Peter Kusztor (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:06:37

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Adriatica Ionica Race – Stage 4

Start/Finish: Cormòns/Trieste

Distance: 103.5 kilometers

Trieste, Italy — An untimely crash in the final kilometer derailed Team Novo Nordisk’s ambitions for a good result in final stage of Adriatica Ionica Race as our designated sprinter Andrea Peron was unable to contest the final bunch sprint.

Starting in Cormòns the fourth and final stage of the Italian race was short and fast, with the peloton racing eastbound towards the coastal city of Trieste over 103.5 km. With all but one categorized climb on the profile and a flat finishing circuit all eyes were set on the fast men, including our Italian sprinter Andrea Peron, who had earmarked this day to fight for glory.

Matteo Badilatti (Israel Cycling Academy), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Thimo Willems (SportVlaanderen-Baloise) and Joel Nicolau (CajaRural-Seguros RGA) elected to defy the odds and went on the breakaway but were kept on a short leash all day and absorbed on the KOM in Prosecco.

As the race entered Trieste Team Novo Nordisk kept Peron in a good position and as the diminished bunch crossed the finishing line for the first time our 30-year-old Italian was riding strongly and perfectly placed in the first third of the group.

Disaster struck when four riders, including Peron, went down in the penultimate corner, just one kilometre from the finish. Fortunately the indecent bore no grave physical consequences for Peron who finished the stage, albeit with several skin abrasions.

Péter Kusztor, who was to be Peron’s leadout, was our best finisher while Álvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck – Quickstep) proved once again to be the fastest rider in the Adriatica Ionica Race by out-sprinting Edward Theuns (Trek Segafredo) to take his second stage win in this edition of the race. Mark Padun (Bahrain) finished safely in the bunch and won the overall classification.

Despite the setback in the final stage, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team showed their attacking spirit with some great performances during their first participation in Adriatica Ionica Race, namely with two breakaway exploits by Umberto Poli in the first stage which featured over 20km of gravel sections, and Charles Planet who went on the attack two days later showing the #ChangingDiabetes jersey at the front of the race.

ANDREA PERON

“It was a really fast stage. I felt really, really good and when we entered the circuit there weren’t many riders left in the group so it was relatively easy to stay in a good position at the front. Sadly there was some chaos in one corner and I went down with some riders. It was about one kilometer to go so there was nothing I could do. The race was over for me then.”

Gallery:

Stage 4 Classification

1st – Álvaro Hodeg (Deceunick – QuickStep) – 2:10:02

2nd – Edward Theuns (Trek Segafredo)  –  “

3rd – Sacha Modolo (EF Education First)  – “

35th – Péter Kusztor (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:16

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)