Magnus Cort Nielsen (Danish national team) proved that he is ready for his grand tour debut at the Vuelta a Espana by clamining his first win in 2016 on stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark. The Dane launched a long sprint from far back on the uphill finishing straight in Sønderborg and narrowly came around Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) who picked up valuable bonus seconds and so extended his overall lead.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Magnus Cort sets sights on Breschel’s record in Denmark

The win was Magnus Cort’s fourth in the race. He is now aiming for Matti Breschel’s record of 9 stage victories.

 

"I could hope for that. He (Matti Breschel, ed.) is a few years older than me, so I still have some years to make it. But he's a great rider to try to match,” Magnus Cort told CuclingQuotes.com.

"My next chance will probably be in Frederiksberg [on stage 5]. I think tomorrow's stage is a little too hard for me. I have tried before and maybe it will be Søren’s (Kragh Andersen, ed.) chance tomorrow. We will discuss that in the briefing. 

"It is a win that I have longed for and really hoped that I could get, and of course I also believed that it was possible.”

 

Moreno Hofland: I can’t be disappointed

Moreno Hofland finished second in the second stage of the Tour of Denmark today. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter had to start his final sprint early in Sønderborg. He held off Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) perfectly, but saw Magnus Cort Nielsen (Postnord Danmark) pass just before the finish line.

 

“You don’t always have control on who crosses the line first,” Sports Director Jan Boven said.

 

In an exciting final part of the stage in which Lars Boom (Astana) and Michael Valgren (Tinkoff) tried to escape ahead of the bunch sprint, Hofland had to start his final sprint early to catch Valgren.

 

“He didn’t have a choice. We had to make every possible effort and Moreno did it very well. It just was a little bit too long to the finish line to win.”

 

Hofland’s second place was a team effort according to Boven.

 

“It’s great to see that the men are riding together like a team and giving it their all,” he continued. “Mike Teunissen and Dennis van Winden set the pace in the peloton for a long time. Jos van Emden took control in the final part of the race and Tom Leezer delivered a great job afterwards. Tom Van Asbroeck was able to hold the pace for Moreno.”

 

“I still had to start my sprint a little bit too early in the end,” Hofland added. “The finish went slightly uphill, as well, so it wasn’t a sprint at high speed. I delivered a good final kick. I saw that Bennati was right behind me, but he wasn’t able to pass me. That was a good sign, but suddenly Cort Nielsen appeared to win it. I can’t be disappointed about this one because we did the best we could. We really delivered a strong final part of the race with the team.”

 

Daniele Bennati: I performed better than I expected

Starting the stage in defence of the race lead, Daniele Bennati nearly pulled off the double on today’s second stage of the race as first Michael Valgren tried his luck in the final kilometre, before Bennati was just edged into third in a thrilling sprint finish. With Valgren caught in the final few hundred metres, Bennati appeared in the leader’s jersey in an elbow to elbow sprint to the line, being passed just before the finish.

 

The sprint unfolded after a furious and frantic finish on the day's finish circuits, on a day where the race speeds were high and crashes were plenty. All of the Tinkoff guys made it through to the finish to continue pushing hard for stage results and the overall classification.

 

After the stage, Sport Director Lars Michaelsen gave a bit more insight into the race.

 

"Our strategy today was to let a break to go up the road and control behind, but it took a while before the right break went. Pavel Brutt did another good job of controlling behind before the teams who wanted to fight for the stage took over. From there we stayed at the front and out of trouble."

 

The stage went according to plan for Tinkoff until the feedzone where Nikolay Trusov crashed. After a bike change and a fight to get back on he made it through the rest of the stage without any problems.

 

After the first two hours, the average speed was nearly 48km/h, with the breakaway pushing hard, but heading into the final 30km their advantage was down to just over one minute. A large crash in the peloton with around 25km to race disturbed the chase slightly - all Tinkoff jerseys were up the front and out of trouble - but with 15km to go the race was all back together.

 

Lars Boom made a big solo push in the final kilometres before Michael Valgren jumped clear behind to give chase. Catching and passing the rider, Valgren looked like he might hold on but he was eventually caught and passed as the line approach before the sprint unfolded.

 

Conserving his race lead, Daniele Bennati said after the stage:

 

"It was a very tough and fast-paced stage and I performed better than I had expected. My goal was to keep the leader's jersey and thanks to today's third place, I achieved it. I'd like to thank my teammates for the excellent work they did in controlling the race. I'm sure they finished the stage exhausted but they deserve the credit.

 

"I believed that I could win today, but Cort was too strong. Now I'm just happy to keep the jersey.

 "When you have the jersey, you should also try to do a good race. I was third and so I took a few more seconds for the GC. It is important.

"We must defend the jersey again tomorrow, although it will be difficult. The team also has Michael Valgren who is in really good shape. If I do not have the legs, Valgren can try.

"I do not know how I will feel tomorrow because of my long injury period, but I have to try.

 

"Tomorrow, I'll also try to hold on to the overall but I'm not sure about my form. It's only the second race after my hard crash at the Milano-Sanremo, so I have to approach the Tour of Denmark day-by-day."

 

"We can again be happy with today's performance, with Benna up there and Michael again looking strong, and overall we're still in a good position, continued Michaelsen. "Nikolay came down but otherwise we managed to avoid the crashes which was good.

 

"Tomorrow is the queen stage - we have the leader's jersey and have to continue to take responsibility. But we have a good plan for tomorrow and the guys are riding well so we're ready."

 

Heading north, and skirting the coastline, tomorrow's stage features the same finish as last season, which saw Tinkoff place three riders in the top ten. With two difficult climbs on the finishing circuit, one with ramps of up to 21%, the fight for the stage should unfold in this exciting finale.

 

Aggressive Lars Boom close to victory in Denmark

"Lars Boom tried to surprise the bunch, attacking when there were only 3 km to the finish line. And he almost did it, he has been taken 300 meters from the end of the stage,” Astana sports director Dmitri Sedoun said.

 

"We rode well -and also the fifth place of Laurens De Vreese is a good result."

 

Thanks to fifth place today, Belgian De Vreese is ninth in the General Classification with a 34 second gap to Daniele Bennati.

 

Maxat Ayazbayev crashed but fortunately without consequences and arrived safely in Sønderborg.

 

Mads Würtz confirms his form in Denmark

Mads Würtz Schmidt sprinted to sixth and is still second overall.

 

“A breakaway of six riders went away and then three fell back to the field. So it was absolutely perfect for us. It was a bit hectic and we were a bit far back but there was a hectic fight for position in the front,” says sports director Ricky Enø.
 

"I had teammates around me all the time. On the circuit, both Asgreen and Rahbek were there and helped me. However, it was very hectic in the final, so I preferred to do it myself but they were in the place right on the wheel of me," says Mads Würtz Schmidt.

"Tomorrow I have to be in front. I think it is possible when I can be sixth today as I had bad legs after yesterday where I spent a lot of energy. I can do well tomorrow if everything goes well.”

"It is important that we are together as a team in the front and are ready. We must deliver Mads as far forward as possible and then hopefully some of our riders can be there to help him too," Enø says.

 

Scott Thwaites shows Vuelta form in Denmark

For BoraArgon 18, Lukas Pöstlberger and Silvio Herklotz crashed around 35 kilometres from the finish, but both could come back to the peloton again and are ok.

 

With about 18k to go the break was caught. Christoph Pfingsten attacked together with Boom, who tried to go solo. But the pace of the peloton was too high and in the sprint Scott Thwaites crossed the line in 7th place.

 

“I didn’t feel that good today and my focus is more preparation for the Vuelta but the finish today suited my style so I gave it a go. The team worked well to stay in the front on the technical finishing circuit but I am missing some race speed in the legs after a month without races so I struggled a bit to hold my position. In the final kilometre my legs were good so I managed to move up in the group and sprint well but I started too far back,” said Scott Thwaites 

 

Stölting aggression fails to pay off in Denmark

Stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark (2.HC) was raced very fast due to an almost-constant tailwind. On the finishing laps in Sønderborg, Alex Kirsch and Mads Pedersen put in some attacks, but didn’t make it to the line; Pedersen was caught on the finishing straight. In the sprint, Danish champion Alexander Kamp was the best Team Stölting Service Group rider in ninth place.

 

There remained three laps of a 6.7 km finishing circuit in Sønderborg that offered plenty of opportunities for attacks with the short, cobbled climb of Jomfrustien with 2 km to go and the uphill finishing straight to Dybbøl Mølle. Alex Kirsch tried to get away on Jomfrustien even before the first passage of the finish, but was caught again soon. Afterwards, Team LottoNL – Jumbo kept the pace up to prepare the sprint for Moreno Hofland. On the final lap, however, Lars Boom (Astana Pro Team) got a gap on Jomfrustien; Mads Pedersen and several other riders also got away and took up the chase.

 

On the final kilometre, Pedersen & co. could almost close the gap to Boom, but eventually the chasing peloton came up from behind. Alexander Kamp sprinted to ninth place, Rasmus Guldhammer finished in 11th position. Despite his late attack, Mads Pedersen still came in as 27th.

 

Sports Director André Steensen said: “It was a fast and hectic stage with several crashes. Thomas Koep went down, and Rasmus Guldhammer had to change his shoe as someone had fallen on it. We tried some attacks in the final, starting with Alex Kirsch. When Boom attacked, Mads Pedersen had to evade another rider and didn’t get to Boom’s backwheel immediately; but in the end they were caught anyway.

 

”Tomorrow’s the very difficult Vejle stage – with Alexander, Rasmus and Mads we have three riders who are still high in GC and who are very well-suited to tomorrow’s final.”

 

ONE on the attack in Denmark

ONE’s plan for today’s stage was to place a rider in the break with Tom Baylis, Marcin Bialoblocki and John Ebsen on rotation, covering all moves at the front of the peloton. Early on, Sebastian Lander got into what looked like a promising move, but the break was short lived, gaining only 30 seconds before Team Bardiani closed it down.

 

When Lander’s group was closed down and the peloton relaxed for a fraction of a second, Tom Baylis clipped off the bunch in a group of 4. With 2 Top Sport Vlaanderen in the mix including a GC contender the peloton weren’t happy to let the break go. Wanting to allow his teammate the chance to open up a gap, the GC contender sat up and slipped back to the peloton, which settled down and allowed the 3 leaders to quickly gain a 1 minute advantage and a maximum of 4 minutes 20 seconds

 

For a second day in a row, the route proved to be quite twisty and technical, reminiscent of Belgium with its narrow lanes and uneven terrain, keeping riders on their toes. A few kilometres from the finishing circuit there was a big crash a which took down Marcin Bialoblocki and John Ebsen, remounting their bikes they struggled to make it back into their original position as Lotto Jumbo managed the bunch and continued to increase the pace.

 

Reaching the finishing circuit, the riders were ready to tackle three 6.7km local laps. Tom Baylis worked solidly in the break all day before it was finally caught on the circuit with only two laps to go. A superb performance from the youngest member on the squad, Baylis was awarded the Most Aggressive Riders Jersey following the race.

 

Meanwhile Martin Mortensen, Sebastian Lander and Kristian House once again found themselves positioned nicely in the front group as the tempo continued to surge towards the finish.

 

Novo Nordisk involved in several crashes in Denmark

Team Novo Nordisk was extremely active and motivated from the start of Stage 2 at the Tour of Denmark. Chris Williams, Charles Planet and Andrea Peron were all seen attacking off the front trying to create the day’s break. Yet, it took over an hour before the peloton allowed a group to get free on the 180-kilometer course. Eventually four riders earned a gap. With 35 km remaining on the day, a large crash saw Williams, Peron, David Lozano, and Kevin De Mesmaeker hit the ground. All Team Novo Nordisk riders were able to continue racing.

 

As the race reached the first of three finishing laps around Sonderberg, the escapees were reeled in. A front group of around 50 riders emerged that included Planet. As the race was heading to the line, another bad crash saw Planet and several other riders go down hard. Fortunately, the 22-year-old Frenchman was able to finish. Due to an ambulance-forced closure on the course, all riders in chase groups and the gruppetto were given the same time and place.

 

“I got caught up in the first crash and spent most of the race trying to catch back up to the main group,” Planet said. “When I finally made it on to that front group for the final laps, I felt really good. I had great position and I was moving up when the crash happened. I really think I could have possibly been in the top 10. I don’t even know what caused the crash; I was on the ground before I knew what had happened. I hurt a lot right now, so we will see how I feel tomorrow.”

 

Team Novo Nordisk’s Joonas Henttala was unable to finish the stage due to lingering injuries from a crash he experienced in June.