Silkeborg, Denmark — Team Novo Nordisk raised the curtain on their seventh consecutive PostNord Danmark Rundt with a top 20 result. Andrea Peron sprinted to 16th place in a hectic finale that saw a select group outfox the peloton and fight for the stage win.

With two jerseys up for grabs on the opening stage the fight for the breakaway was fierce from the start. Multiple riders attempted to get away, including our Frenchman Charles Planet, but the moves were systematically closed down during the first 30km.

Eventually, five riders successfully opened a gap and were later joined by another duo, thereby establishing the breakaway of the day. Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen (Coloquick), João Rodrigues (W52 / FC Porto), Paolo Simion (Bardiani), Andreas Vangstad (Joker), Mads Rahbek (BHS – Almeborg Bornholm), Sasha Weemaes (Sport Vlaanderen) and Jonathan Brown (Hagens Berman Axeon) worked well together and by the time the first Changing Diabetes hill sprint rolled around the gap was up to four minutes.

The peloton started to invest in chasing down the escapees half-way through the stage and with 80km to go the advantage was shaved down to under one and a half minutes.

The breakaway was eventually swallowed up by the peloton in the sterrato sector, as the race entered the last 45 kilometers. Soon after, Lotto Soudal took the reigns of the race and upped the pace significantly trying to split the bunch. A few riders managed to attack and a quartet opened a gap of 43 seconds before, they too, were caught just inside the final circuit.

A flurry of attacks ensued but the winning move came in the last three kilometers when a handful of riders, including Lotto Soudal’s Jasper de Buyst and Tiesj Benoot forged ahead. Meanwhile, in the ever diminishing peloton, Team Novo Nordisk looked sharped and focused on keeping Andrea Peron in a good position, however the select front group managed to stay away and Benoot crossed the line first to claim the opening stage of PostNord Danmark Rundt.

Peron was 16th on the day and was Team Novo Nordisk’s best placed rider. Our fast Italian sits in 18th in the general classification moving into stage 2.

This Thursday the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team will continue to race to change diabetes in PostNord Danmark Rundt as they take on an 17km individual time trial in Grindsted that will make the first real selection in the fight for the overall classification.

Andrea Peron:

“About 10 guys went clear and we were really close but couldn’t close the last few meters before the finish. I did my best in the bunch sprint but to be honest there were too many riders in front. I had a puncture at a crucial moment with 30 or so km to go and I lost around three minutes. I managed to come back to the bunch but wasted a lot of energy. It’s a bit disappointing because we had the opportunity to have a Top 10 result already in the first day but we will fight again”

Charles Planet:

“There were a lot of attacks in the beginning with a lot of Danish riders trying to be in the break. It took 30 km for the right breakaway to go. I truly did my best to be there, I was in quite a few moves but I missed the right one. I’m disappointed, I felt really good but unfortunately today wasn’t meant to be. It is what it is and I will for sure try again the day after tomorrow”

Gallery:

Stage 1 Classification:

1st – Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) – 3:54:48

2nd – Jasper de Buyst (Lotto Soudal) – 0:00:00

3rd – Amaury Capiot (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) – 0:00:00

16th – Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:04

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Stage 2

Video

“I wanted to give it a red hot crack to show what’s possible with diabetes.”

Our neo-pro Declan Irvine talks about posting the fastest time among the TNN squad at the 2019 PostNord Danmark Rundt individual time trial.

Gallery

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

2019 Tour of Denmark - Stage 2

Race: PostNord Danmark Rundt – Stage 2 – ITT

Start/Finish: Grindsted/Grindsted

Distance: 17 kilometers

Silkeborg, Denmark — Team Novo Nordisk concluded stage 2 of PostNord Danmark Rundt, a 17 kilometer-long Individual Time Trial with respectable performances, with neo-pro Declan Irvine posting the fastest time amongst our Changing Diabetes squad.

Strong cross and headwind were the key factor in the 17 km “race of truth” in Grindsted which saw top favorite Martin Toft take a convincing win in 19 minutes and 35 seconds, ahead of countrymen Rasmus Quaade and Mads Wurtz.

All six Team Novo Nordisk riders concluded the pan flat parcours safely, with 20-year.old Australian Irvine, who is making his PostNord Danmark Rundt, finishing just outside the top 50, in 20 minutes and 1 second.

Looking ahead to this Friday’s Queen Stage the goal was to open the legs and take no risks in a stage that favored the specialists.

The World’s first all-diabetes team continues to race in PostNord Danmark Rundt on Stage 3, a decisive 199.7km effort with a hard finish in Vejle.

Declan Irvine:

“Stage two here in Denmark was a 17 kilometers individual time trial. It was super windy and brutal but a good course that suited me perfectly. It was dead flat and not very technical. I wanted to give it a red hot crack to show the people at home what’s possible with diabetes. I’ve been training really hard and had picked this stage a long time ago. I worked hard with my coach Federico (Fontana) and wanted to do really well here. I got 21:01 across the line and I’m really stocked with that.”

Gallery:

Stage 2 Classification

1st – Martin Toft (BHS – Almeborg Bornholm) – 0:19:35

2nd – Rasmus Quaade (Riwal) – 0:00:11

3rd – Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Denmark) – 0:00:11

54th – Declan Irvine (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:01:26

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Stage 3

Video

“I chased full gas for 20km all by myself to catch them.”

Watch Umberto Poli recap his day in the PostNord Danmark Rundt breakaway.

Gallery

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

2019 Tour of Denmark - Stage 3

Race: PostNord Danmark Rundt – Stage 3

Start/Finish: Holstrebo/Vejle

Distance: 199,7 kilometers

Vejle, Denmark — Team Novo Nordisk showed its trademark fighting spirit on the queen stage of PostNord Danmark Rundt with an outstanding performance from Umberto Poli. The 22-year-old Italian successfully made the day’s three-rider breakaway, after chasing solo for 20 kilometers, showing the Changing Diabetes colors at the front of the race for more than half of the stage, before teammate Charles Planet finished in a solid 24th place in the demanding finale in Vejle.

As soon as the flag dropped several riders attacked and tried to break clear. Team Novo Nordisk was eager to get in the mix and Poli and Joonas Henttala both tried to make the breakaway early on but both moves were closed down.

Ultimately, Fridtjof Røinås (Joker Fuel of Norway) and Torstein Træen (Uno-X Norwegian Development Team) opened a gap of half a minute and the pelotoneased up. Sensing that was the decisive move Poli boldly launched a solo chase and pursued the leading duo for over 20 km in relentless windy conditions.

Our brave Italian successfully bridged to the front and the trio worked well together, opening a gap that expanded up to eight minutes before the World Tour teams took it upon themselves to set a vigorous tempo at the front of the bunch and proceeded to rapidly dig into the advantage.

With 90 km to go the escapees had only three minutes to spare and on the top of the second KOM of the day it was down to one minute.

With his job done and his reserves empty Poli was finally absorbed by the peloton with a little over 60 km to go.

The race was back together soon after and a flurry of attacks over the rolling terrain and exposed crosswind sections saw the peloton split into several groups. Charles Planet and Peter Kusztor did very well to stay in contention at the head of affairs. The decisive move can inside the 4 laps of the traditional finish circuit in Vejle with six riders forging ahead, including Danish track champion Lasse Norman Hansen (Corendon Circus) who went on to take the stage win.

Charles Planet showed that he still carries great form after a brilliant performance at the Tour of Poland earlier in the month and powered to a top-25 placing. The result enabled him to climb to 30th in the overall classification with two days of racing left to go.

This Saturday the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team continues to race on Danish soil in the 175 km-long stage 4 that will start in Korsør and finish in Asnæs Indelukke.

Umberto Poli:

“Today was the Queen Stage in Tour of Denmark and in the team meeting we laid the plan to be in the breakaway as our first goal. The second objective was to work for Charles (Planet) and Kusztor in the final circuit. It was really hard to go in the breakaway but after 15 km two riders attacked and were gone. I chased full gas for 20 km all by myself to catch them. I’m really happy with my performance today. The peloton caught me with 60 km to go and I finished the stage in the gruppetto. I’m so dead right now but I hope to recover well for the final two stages.”

Gallery:

Stage 3 Classification

1st – Lasse Norman Hansen (BHS – Almeborg Bornholm) – 4:46:45

2nd – Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen (Team Jumbo Visma) – 0:00:00

3rd – Niklas Larsen (Team ColoQuick) – 0:00:00

24th – Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:36

Stage 4

Gallery

2019 Tour of Denmark - Stage 4

Race: PostNord Danmark Rundt – Stage 4

Start/Finish: Korsør/Asnæs Indelukke

Distance: 175 kilometers

Roskilde, Denmark — Charles Planet powered to a splendid top 10 placing on the penultimate stage of PostNord Danmark Rundt 2019, scoring the best result on a stage for Team Novo Nordisk since 2013.

The 175 km-long stage started in Korsør’s harbour and our Changing Diabetes riders were very active from the start with Umberto Poli, who rode bravely in the breakaway on the previous day, fighting to go clear as well as teammate Joonas Henttala. However, those moves were folded and when a six-rider strong breakaway escaped Team Novo Nordisk wasn’t represented at the front. The escapees opened a gap of over five minutes before the peloton began to progressively reel them in. As the race entered the final 75 km the advantage was down to less than one minute.

The action heated up when the riders hit the hilly finishing circuit, that included a final 600 meters steep climb. The last of the escapees were caught inside the final lap and the stage was decided in a reduced bunch sprint with Charles Planet taking a solid 10th place, just five seconds shy of the winner, Lotto Soudal’s Jasper de Buyst. Coming off a great performance in Tour of Poland, where he won the first World Tour jersey in Team Novo Nordisk’s history, the 25-year-old Frenchman finished off a solid day of teamwork and scored the first top 10 result for the squad in the Danish race since Andrea Peron sprinted to 9th place on Stage 1 in the 2013 edition of PostNord Danmark Rundt.

With this result Charles Planet climbs seven spots in the general classification and is now sitting in 23rd place.

The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team will conclude its seventh consecutive PostNord Danmark Rundt this Sunday with the traditional stage to Frederiksberg, which this year starts in Roskilde and covers a distance of 165 km.

Charles Planet:

“Everyone said the queen stage was yesterday but for me today was harder. The final circuit was really hard, the climb was longer and the pace was hard all day. My goal was to save my legs as much as possible to try my best at the end. My team was fantastic! Peter (Kusztor) put me in the right position in the final 5 km and then I just had to let the legs do the speaking. Maybe I need to be more confident in myself because I think I was one of the best riders in the peloton today and in the end I got a top 10 which makes me really happy! I’m really proud of my effort today!”

Gallery:

Stage 4 Classification

1st – Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) – 04:09:38

2nd – Amaury Capiot (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) – 0:00:00

3rd – Huub Duijn (Roompot – Charles) – 0:00:00

10th – Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) – 0:00:05

Stage 5

2019 Tour of Denmark - Stage 5

Race: PostNord Danmark Rundt – Stage 5

Start/Finish: Roskilde/Frederiksberg

Distance: 165.6 kilometers

Copenhagen, Denmark — Team Novo Nordisk concluded the 2019 edition of PostNord Danmark Rundt with a valiant breakaway performance from Umberto Poli and a solid top 15 result on the final stage in Frederiksberg by Andrea Peron.

Poli, who rode strongly in the breakaway on stage three, went on the attack early on and successfully broke clear of the peloton with five other riders. The strong breakaway consisting of standout riders such as local star Mads Würtz Schmidt (Danmark) quickly opened a gap and with 150km to go they rode three minutes and 45 seconds ahead of the bunch.

As the race entered the final laps of the closing circuit in Frederiksberg the peloton had shaved the advantage to the escapees to a little more than a minute. Poli was caught with four laps to go and Team Novo Nordisk shifted the focus to setting up Andrea Peron for the sprint. On the final lap the 30-year-old Italian was ideally positioned in the first 15 in the peloton and was gunning for a top result. Unfortunately in the last corner before the finishing straight Peron was cut off and lost ground. In the end, Team Novo Nordisk’s key sprinter, who has two top 10 results in World Tour races to his name this season, had to settled for a 14th placing on the line.

The stage honors went to Tim Merlier (Corendon Circus) while Niklas Larsen (Team ColoQuick) won the overall classification. Charles Planet finished safely in the peloton and kept his 23rd position in the GC.

The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team concluded its seventh consecutive PostNord Danmark Rundt with an overall solid performance and it’s best result since the 2013 edition of the Danish Stage race when Charles Planet finished in 10th position on the penultimate stage.

Umberto Poli:

“I was very happy to make the breakaway for the second time this week. I really wanted to race at the front on this final stage and am really proud of how the legs reacted after the great effort two days ago. The breakaway was very strong but we knew we would be caught inside the final circuit. Right now I’m completely dead but happy that I was able to do my job and show our jersey at the front. I hope I inspired people who live with diabetes!”

Charles Planet:

“It was a good Tour of Denmark for the team and myself. I’ve been in the breakaway several times this season but in this race I was going more for a stage result and I achieved it. After Stage 3 I was really sad and disappointed about the result because I had a lot of bad luck with mechanicals at crucial moments so I was keen to do much better the day after. Then I confirmed that I have the legs for top 10 in a brutal stage. The team was twice in the breakaway with Umberto which is very important because we get to show the jersey on tv in front of our fans and our title sponsor. The team was also fantastic all week to protect me and Andrea and we are happy with our performance this week.”