Tour de l’Eurométropole threw windy conditions at the riders on a fast 160km stage, while Pavel Brutt and stagiaire Antwan Tolhoek fought their way through the day after having suffered from food poisoning. Nikolay Trusov, the squad’s designated sprinter, finished 4th behind Debusschere after the final burst for the line.

Nikolay Trusov notes after stage 1 that he had hoped for more but feels content with the outcome.

“Today we had a windy stage. The last part of the race was very controlled. I want to thank my teammates for supporting me, especially Gogl and Tosatto, who were protecting me during the stage. Michael Mørkøv brought me into a good position in the bunch sprint. It was very, very fast, faster than 70 km/h and I ultimately took 4th place. I’m satisfied with this result, but of course, I wanted more. Tomorrow I expect a different stage, it will be hillier and we will ride on the Gent-Wevelgem parcours. I think tomorrow's stage is not for pure sprinters but I’ll see if I can reach the finale in the first group", says Nikolay Trusov, while teammate Michael Mørkøv describes the final part of the stage after entering the circuit.

“It was a windy stage here in Northern France and Belgium and we were at the front on the last laps in an attempt to create some gaps and potentially move Boaro up in the GC. After a downhill section, we approached the final sprint, where we were able to put Nikolay into a good position. I think that we got the best out of it today. Nikolay is going well at the moment, he is a fast rider and we’ll definitely look towards setting him up for the sprint again. Meanwhile, we will naturally see if we can create a situation, where Boaro can advance further in the GC”, tells road captain Michael Mørkøv.

Stage 1 came in the wake of an opening prologue and offered 160km in fairly flat terrain. Team sports director Lars Michaelsen explains that two riders, in particular, had suffered on the stage.

“We were seven riders at the start but unfortunately two of our riders were sick. Pavel Brutt and Antwan Tolhoek had stomach problems during the night with frequent visits to the toilet with vomiting and they had hardly eaten anything before the start. We reckon that it’s food poisoning and in that light, they showed a great fortitude to fight on and finish the stage. Riding 160km in the wind is tough enough in itself and if you add this on top, their effort and determination was excellent”, comments Lars Michaelsen before adding about the stage conclusion:

“It was nice and sunny, around 17 degrees, meanwhile the wind which was strong enough to make people hurt. We focused on the finishing sprint, however there was a moment of tension when Boaro had a puncture with 9km to go. Mørkøv gave his wheel and with help from Michael Gogl, Boaro made it back on. Mørkøv also made it back to the bunch with 3k to go, from where he took action and helped to position Trusov on the wheel of today’s winner Debusschere”.