After riding 237 kilometers at the Tour of Hainan’s longest stage on Thursday, Team Novo Nordisk’s sprinter, Martijn Verschoor (NED), captured his third top ten finish of the race.

Thursday’s stage was long and flat, taking the riders from the province’s capital of Haikou to Chengmai. An early breakaway of five riders formed, but was elimated with 20-km to go, setting the peloton up for a field sprint. Team Novo Nordisk rode together to put Verschoor in good position. In the end he crossed the finish line in sixth place, while Italian sprinter, Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), took his second stage win.

“After a long and hot day on the bike, I was happy to see our riders working together to set Martijn up for the sprint finish,” said Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director, Massimo Podenzana. “The team is working really well together and we’ll continue to look for more results over the weekend.”

Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) sprinted to the win ahead of Brenton Jones (Drapac Professional Cycling) and Benjamin Giraud (Team Marseille 13-KTM).

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team, continues racing at the Tour of Hainan on Saturday. Stage 5 covers 191.9-km, beginning in Chengmai and finishing in Qiongzhong.