Team Novo Nordisk continued to race aggressively at the Tour of Hainan, capturing back-to-back top 10 finishes as Martijn Verschoor (NED) sprinted to an eighth place finish. Chris Williams (AUS) is currently in 11th place overall and Verschoor sits at 15th.

A seven-man breakaway, including Team Novo Nordisk’s Scott Ambrose (AUS), formed quickly on the flat 188-kilometer stage, but was caught after 120-km. Chris Williams joined a second, smaller breakaway of just three riders that managed to stay away until 15-km to the finish and then got tangled up in a massive crash with 2-km to go that also included Corentin Cherhal (FRA), Ruud Cremers (NED) and Joonas Henttala (FIN), among other riders in the peloton. All the Team Novo Nordisk riders recovered and crossed the finish line. Andrea Palini (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) took the win with Verschoor in eighth place.

“Today was another good day for our entire team despite the crash near the finish,” Verschoor said. “I was in a good position for the sprint until the crash happened right in front of me and I had to take my feet out of the pedals to stop and avoid it. I could have done better if I didn’t have to stop, but overall I’m happy with the finish. Our team is working hard and I’m looking forward to more racing tomorrow.”

Chris Williams (AUS) currently sits 11th in the general classification

Andrea Palini (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) sprinted to the win ahead of Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana Pro Team).

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team, continues racing at the Tour of Hainan on Thursday with Stage 3. The 119.6-km race begins in Wenchang and ends in Haikou.