Tour de Slovaquie

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Tour of Slovakia – Stages 1a & 1b

Start/Finish: Bardejov/Bardejov

Distance: 138.2 kilometers / 7.4 kilometers (ITT)

Bardejov, Slovakia — Andrea Peron sprinted to a strong 8th place in the opening stage of Tour of Slovakia 2019 notching Team Novo Nordisk’s 16th top 10 result this season. The day concluded with a short individual time trial where the team gave a solid performance lead by former Hungarian time-trial champion Peter Kusztor.

The 2019 edition of Tour of Slovakia started this Wednesday with a double duty day with the peloton tackling a flat 138.2 km stage early in the morning.

The cold temperatures and likely bunch sprint finale didn’t dissuade six riders from going up the road.

Alexandre Delettre (Delko Marseille), Kenny Molly (Wallonie-Bruxelles), Ramus Wallin (Riwal), Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X), Florian Kierner (Team Feldermayr) and Erik Fetter (Pannon Cycling Team) jumped clear after 10 km and opened a gap of two minutes on the peloton.

The World Tour teams then proceeded to control the sextet and kept them on a tight leash. With 20 km to go only two escapees remained at the front of the race but the duo was predictably caught with 9 km to go.

The technical finale stretched out the bunch but Team Novo Nordisk worked strongly as a unit and positioned Andrea Peron perfectly in the closing kilometers. The 30-year-old Italian was lucky to avoid a crash just before the flamme rouge and powered to a solid 8th place in the cobbled uphill finish.

Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) took the win ahead of Deceuninck -Quick-Step duo Michale Morkov and Elia Viviani.

Andrea Peron

“It was a really hard finish, the field here is really strong. Poli (Umberto Poli) was like an animal today. He put me in perfect position with about 3 km to go. The last 2 km were especially difficult because there was a small climb then a downhill and a roundabout. There was a crash in the last 1km but thankfully I was ahead of it and it didn’t affect my sprint. The last 300 meters were slightly uphill in the cobbles and I did my best. It was really dangerous and I was focused on staying on my bike. I was 8th on the line and now have to focus on the ITT”

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In the afternoon the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team took on a 7.4 km individual time-trial in downtown Bardejov. The technical course was challenging but all seven #ChangingDiabetes riders concluded the effort safely with former Hungarian national and time-trial champion Peter Kusztor scoring the fastest time for the team.

The “race of truth was won by time-trial specialist Stefan Küng (FDJ) who stopped the clock in nine minutes and four seconds.

This Thursday Team Novo Nordisk will race the longest stage in the history of the Tour of Slovakia a 227 km course starting in Bardejov and finishing in Ružomberok.

Peter Kusztor

“It was a very long day. We started at 9am and now we just finished the TT. It was a very hard course and we did our best. In the beginning we had cobblestones and downhill and afterward it was pretty technical. Then we had four uphill sections and a lot of wind. The last 300 meters were uphill on the cobblestones. I felt really good, I could keep a good tempo all throughout the time-trial. Now we are focused resting and recovering for tomorrow. We have a 230 km stage and the forecast is for cold weather once again.”

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Stage 1a Classification

1st – Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Team Emirates) – 03:21:48

2nd – Michael Mørkøv (Deceuninck – Quick Step) 0:00:00

3rd – Elia Viviani (Deceuninck – Quick Step) – 0:00:00

8th – Andrea Peron – 0:00:04

Stage 1b Classification

1st – Stefan Küng (Groupama – FDJ) – 00:09:03

2nd -Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck – Quick Step) – 00:00:03

3rd – Bob Jungels (Deceuninck – Quick Step) – 00:00:06

41st – Peter Kusztor (Team Novo Nordisk) – 00:00:50

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(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Tour of Slovakia – Stage 2

Start/Finish: Bardejov/Ružomberok

Distance: 227 kilometers

Ružomberok, Slovakia — Team Novo Nordisk fought bravely on the longest stage of the 2019 edition of Tour of Slovakia and Andrea Peron finished just outside the top 20 in a technical sprint finish.

Low temperatures of under 8 degrees Celsius and intermittent rain greeted the peloton at the start line in Bardejov. The race was on from the start and for over an hour several riders tried to attack and break clear. Team Novo Nordisk was attentive at the front and both Umberto Poli and Charles Planet covered some moves that ultimately didn’t stick.

Eventually Rémy Rochas (Delko Marseille), Martin Salmon (Development Sunweb) and Idar Andersen (Uno-X) got the all clear and swiftly established a healthy gap that ballooned up to nine minutes with 155km to go.

As the gap began to decrease Deceuninck – Quick-Step upped the pace in the bunch and created an echelon with 45 km to go after all five categorised climbs of the day had been overcome. Andrea Peron, Charles Planet and Peter Kusztor made the split and rode in a select group of 30 riders. In the end, however, the field came back together and the breakaway was caught just outside the last 20 km.

The technical uphill finish with a cobbled surface made for a very demanding bunch sprint and Eduard Grosu (Delko Marseille) anticipated his rivals and won ahead of Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck – Quick Step). Andrea Peron was in the mix but found himself too far back when he initiated the sprint and crossed the finish line in 21st position.

The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team will continue to show what’s possible with diabetes in Slovakia when they take on the penultimate stage this Friday a 200,6 km ordeal starting in Ružomberok and finishing in Hlohovec.

Andrea Peron

“It was cold and rainy from the start. We faced really cold temperatures all day and we tried hard to be in the break but sadly we missed the right move. At around 160 km to go, after the last climb Deceuninck – Quick-Step made an echelon and me, Charles (Planet) and Peter (Kusztor) made the split. We were just around 30 riders at the front but sadly they stopped pulling and it all came back together. In the last 5 km it was really difficult to stay in position and it was not a good sprint for me. I tried to do my best but I was a bit too far back in the last 1000 meters.”

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Stage 2 Classification

1st – Eduard Grosu (Delko Marseille) – 05:46:42

2nd – Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) 0:00:00

3rd – Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ)- 0:00:00

8th – Andrea Peron – 0:00:09

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(Photos: René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Tour of Slovakia – Stage 3

Start/Finish: Ružomberok/Hlohovec

Distance: 200.6 kilometers

Hlohovec, Slovakia —Charles Planet powered to an impressive eight place amongst some fierce competition on stage 3 of Tour of Slovakia, notching Team Novo Nordisk’s second top 10 result in the race.

With just over 200 km and three Cat -2 climbs stage three presented itself as a long and gruelling day in the saddle. The low temperatures and biting wind posed an added challenge but the fight to be in the breakaway started as soon as the flag dropped. Team Novo Nordisk rode offensively and actively pursued the initial moves. After 30 km of a steady stream of attacks four riders surged ahead and opened a gap of around two and a half minutes.

Gašper Katrašnik (Adria Mobil), Mateusz Grabis (Vostaer), Martin Urianstad (Uno-X) and Kenny Molly (Wallonie-Bruxelles) stayed up front during most of the day but were predictably reeled back in with 20 km to go.

As the world tour teams took the reigns of the race the main field exploded into several groups. Charles Planet did very well to stay on the right side of the splits and found himself upfront in a select group.

On the final categorised climb just before the finish the 25-year-old Frenchman showed his strength and overtook several riders to cross the finishing line in eight place, just five seconds shy of the day’s victor Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ).

It’s the second top 10 result for Team Novo Nordisk in this edition of Tour of Slovakia and the fourth top 10 for Planet this season. With this result Planet climbs to 17th position in the overall classification.

Tour of Slovakia concludes this Saturday with Stage 4 that starts in Hlohovec and finishes in Senica over 142.1km

Charles Planet

“Today was 200km stage and up and down all day. The finish was 800m uphill at 8% gradient. The goal was to put someone in the break if the break was 6-7 riders. The entire team worked hard to be in it but eventually a small break of 4 riders went away after 25km of racing. Then we turned our focus to the finish with Andrea and myself. The team did once again an amazing job to protect me and feeding me all day long. With 30km to go Quick Step and Bora attacked and created echelons in strong crosswinds. I felt super strong and found myself in the first group of around 40 riders. The pace was crazy and I just tried to survive! In the final kilometer despite a lot of fight to be in the best position possible I was too far back around 30th position but I went totally all out and came home with 8th place which is an amazing result among this top field, with many riders ready for world championship next week. I’m the only rider coming from a pro continental team in the top 10, all the others are world tour. I’m proud of my performance and I’m sure that with 50 meters more a podium spot was within my hands.”

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Stage 3 Classification

1st – Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ) – 04:39:09

2nd – Aleksandr Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates) – 0:00:02

3rd – Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) – 0:00:02

8th – Charles Planet – 0:00:05

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(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

(Photos: ©René Vigneron)

Race: Tour of Slovakia – Stage 4

Start/Finish: Hlohovec/Senica

Distance: 142.1 kilometers

Senica, Slovakia — Team Novo Nordisk concluded the 2019 edition of Tour of Slovakia this Saturday with a breakaway performance in the fourth and last stage of the race.

The flat parcours favored a bunch sprint finale but the fight for the breakaway was still fierce with multiple attacks being closed down before the a group of six riders, including Team Novo Nordisk’s Péter Kusztor, were finally allowed to surge ahead.

Franklin Six (Wallonie-Bruxelles), Aljaž Jarc (Adria Mobil), Martin Urianstad (Uno-X), Marek Čanecký (Dukla Banská Bystrica), Szymon Krawczyk (Voster ATS) and Kusztor put in a good collective effort but were unable to stretch out the gap beyond the one minute and 40 seconds mark.

The World Tour teams kept a lively tempo in the main field and effortlessly brought back the escapees as the race entered the final 15 km.

In the hectic finale Andrea Peron was unable to keep the wheel of the elite group upfront and had to settle for a 30th place on the line. Elia Viviani (Deceunick – Quick-Step) won the stage while teammate Yves Lampaert took the overall win.

Team Novo Nordisk’s Charles Planet arrived safely in the bunch and kept his 17th place in the general classification.

Peter Kusztor

“The stage was mostly flat but the wind played a big role today. We had the plan to join the breakaway and I was able to be there with five other riders. We did a really good tempo all day but the peloton didn’t give us much time and our advantage never grew beyond one minute and 40 seconds. I felt really good but we were caught with 15 km to go. It was a good Tour of Slovakia for us. Charles (Planet) finished top 20 on the GC and we took two top 10 results in stages.”

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Stage 4 Classification

1st – Elia Viviani (Deceunick – Quick-Step) – 03:17:36

2nd – Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ)- 0:00:00

3rd – Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) – 0:00:00

30th – Andrea Peron – 0:00:04

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(Photos: ©René Vigneron)