Bulgaria
In the footsteps of the Romans
3 Sep - 4 Sep 2022
TEAM Pro Team
STAGES 2
TEAM Pro Team STAGES 2
Team Novo Nordisk’s Bulgarian campaign continued today when the world’s first all-diabetes cycling team lined up in In the Footsteps of the Romans. Mehdi Benhamouda (29th) and Hamish Beadle (34th) made the most of stage one which was raced over 126 kilometers.
Hamish Beadle:
“It was a very windy day. We’re all fatigued from the Tour of Bulgaria and struggled from the start. I managed to make the first group after the start then it was super tough covering all the moves. When the important move went, I was just in the wrong position and that was it for the day, surviving for the finish. The wheels have fallen off a bit. It’s strange because I feel like I am getting stronger and am more fit but mentally I need to work on tactically following the right wheels. We have one more day of racing here tomorrow. Let’s see what it brings us.”
Team Novo Nordisk’s Bulgarian campaign came to an end today in the final stage of In the Footsteps of the Romans. The two-day race followed the Tour of Bulgaria. Hamish Beadle and Mehdi Benhamouda mixed it up in the front group on the final day of racing with Beadle ending the stage 16th.
Hamish Beadle:
“Today was one of the most normal days we had where the breakaway went and the team with the lead actually worked and controlled the race. So it was actually a boring day in that sense and we didn’t have to fight so much for positioning and closing gaps. The sprint was chaotic. Unfortunately, my positioning wasn’t ideal but it’s good to get the racing finished with a top 20.”
“I had an altitude block in Andorra, then did Tour of Denmark before coming here. I am looking forward to a break now before ending the season with some punchy one day races.”
Mehdi Benhamouda:
“I’m proud of myself for this block of racing here in Bulgaria. It was not easy, I was actually very surprised by the level of the racing here. For me to leave this country with two top 20s is an achievement because I’ve been recovering from injury for a long time and haven’t been racing. So because of my long layoff, I had a personal goal coming into these two races to finish them. I almost had a top 10 with 11th on stage four of the Tour of Bulgaria and 19th place on another stage so it’s nice to finish some tough racing.”