Tour of Hainan

The first stage of the Tour of Hainan culminated in an expected bunch sprint. At only 95 kilometers, the race was always going to be a flat and fast one.

The peloton wasn’t keen on letting anyone get a sizable gap and after constant attacks, two riders were allowed a gap of 50 seconds before it was brought back.

Hamish Beadle was our protected man for the day but after a late mechanical for the New Zealander, Declan Irvine contested the sprint for Team Novo Nordisk and was its best-placed rider in 22^nd.

“Hamish was supposed to be sprinting and I was leading him out and at 3km to go he got a puncture. So then I kept going on my own but after 2 months of no racing I didn’t have the feel in the front and I sprinted the whole thing in the saddle. 22nd was the best I could do. Hopefully we improve from here,” Irvine said.

In a repeat of the opening day, stage 2 of the Tour of Hainan came down to a big bunch sprint. Declan Irvine contested the sprint for Team Novo Nordisk again and bettered his 22^nd on the first stage to sixteenth today.

At 178 kilometers long, the stage was almost double the distance of the opening day. The peloton was content for a breakaway of five riders to go up the road. Three more tried to bridge but did so unsuccessfully, spending a large portion of the day in no man’s land.

Once everyone was brought back it was clear it would be a day for the sprinters.

“Hamish and I talked with 20km to go and he wasn’t feeling so good so said I should go for it again,” Irvine said. “I was still a little off the pace and getting used to sprinting again and got 16^th. We don’t know if it was the heat and humidity affecting the guys because it was very hot today again but that doesn’t really affect me. I haven’t sprinted in a long time so the kick and knowing where to be in the bunch is something I have to get used to again.”

“We were riding quite well as a team. David was helping me into the last 5km and I found Quinten with 2km to go then it got super chaotic in the sprint. I ended up surfing wheels and managed to do better than yesterday.”

Stage 3 will see the race’s first categorized climbs of this year’s edition. A long race again at 181 kilometers, the peloton will navigate four major climbs with the last one topping out at just 6 kilometers to the finish.

With four categorized climbs, stage 3 of the Tour of Hainan was seen as the Queen stage. The race was every bit as tough as expected with the last climb topping out at 6 kilometers to the finish. A solo escapee won with six seconds and earned himself the race lead while the rest of the peloton finished behind in drips and drabs.

David Lozano, returning to racing after an injury layoff, was the first rider home for Team Novo Nordisk in 34^th place.

David Lozano:

“I’m still missing some speed and the high intensity after having some time off through injury so I couldn’t follow the top of the climb with the best guys. I’ve been training for a month and the feeling is still not the best and it’s the first time I’m going for a result. I felt like I had a fire in my chest but I expect over time for it to get better. With my experience I know it’s all about surviving to the next day. The guys did a great job riding together and getting bottles. Unfortunately we lost Hamish today but we still have a strong team here to tackle the last two stages and see what we can get out of it.”

The second last stage of the Tour of Hainan got off to a tough start as the race opened with a category 1 climb. This meant a selection was made from the off with David Lozano representing Team Novo Nordisk upfront.

With more climbing to come, several breakaways formed throughout the day but none were successful. Eventually, the stage was contested from a reduced peloton of 60 riders.

The experienced Lozano is finding his racing rhythm after returning to the race since injury.

David Lozano:

“I actually felt much better today than yesterday. The climbing started from the word go and I managed to stay with the top 20 guys over the top. I didn’t once feel like I was on the limit. I was on my own and then on the descent, Sam joined us and helped me for most of the stage.”

“We were a small group going for the sprint and I was on the right-hand side. I started opening my sprint and a guy in front of me swerved into me. Just coming back from a broken scapula, I have no confidence to take risks so stop sprinting rather to be safe and finish the race well tomorrow.”

The final stage of the Tour of Hainan was the longest of the race at 203 kilometers and brought Team Novo Nordisk its best results of the race. With the general classification down to 30 seconds between the podium positions and bonus seconds up for grabs, the first hour of racing saw several attacks and counter-attacks but in a repeat of other flat stages, after numerous attempts the race ended in a ferocious bunch sprint.

The world’s first all-diabetes cycling team was represented upfront by Declan Irvine and Umberto Poli who sprinted to 8^th and 9^th respectively.

“Everyone did a really good job, we covered all the moves in the front and getting bottles all day,” Irvine said.

“The guys worked really well in the final too. A couple of the guys went above and beyond, smashing it. We got over the climbs in the front group and it came to a big bunch kick. The speed in the last 5 kilometers was just incredible as we were on one big straight road. Quinten was there trying to help me in the end and there was a big crash with 1km to go so we got separated.”

“I surfed the wheels from there and I found the yellow jersey Aaron Gates wheel and he kind of led me out and this miracle gap opened on the right side and we cut through it. To crack the top 10 was pretty awesome, I’m happy we could finish the race that way,” Irvine concluded.

“It was full gas all day today with teams chasing bonus seconds,” Poli said. “The team of the leaders jersey control the race to make it a sprint and Declan and I felt good in the final. It’s a good result for the team after a long stage and we’re happy and can finish the Tour of Hainan with a good performance.”

The team will next travel to Italy for GP Industria & Artigianato on 8th September.