Nielsen relishes Astana debut
DUBAI — Magnus Cort Nielsen said that the crash towards the end of the Meraas Stage slowed him down and hampered his chances of going full on for the bunch sprint and the opportunity to win the Dubai Tour title.
But the Dane was pretty happy with his debut with Astana Pro Team as he finished second behind winner Elia Viviani in the General Classification and the leader’s jersey in the Young Rider Classification.
The 25-year-old was caught a bit in the five-rider pile-up that involved Cofidis Solution Credits’ Nacer Bouhanni, Team Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish, Trek-Segafredo’s John Degenkolb, Alexander Kristoff of UAE Team Emirates and Borut Bozic of Bahrain-Merida. That had a knock on effect as Nielsen couldn’t launch his sprint and his challenge fizzled out. He ended up finishing eighth.
“The crash at the end slowed me down because they crashed just in front of me,” Nielsen said after the Stage. “I was not in a good position for the sprint as well. We didn’t succeed in organizing a good lead-out. But nonetheless, I’m happy with my second place in the GC and with the win of the Young rider Classification, it’s a good debut for me at Astana Pro Team,” he added.
Nielsen joined Astana Pro Team after three seasons with OricaGreenEDGE. The Dane had finished second to Team Lotto NL-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen in the Nakheel Stage, the opening Stage of the Tour. Nielsen was sixth in the Ras Al Khaimah Stage won by Viviani and eighth in Stage 3, the Dubai Silicon Oasis Stage, won by Cavendish.
Nielsen, who won two Stage in the Vuelta a Espana in 2016, came in second to Viviani in the Dubai Municipality Stage. Meanwhile, Team Novo Nordisk’s Quentin Valognes, who won the UAE Flag Jersey after topping the Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification, was pleased with the team spirit.
“The team spirit since Stage 1 has been unbelievable. We’ve been in every single breakaway and aggressive on every single stage. Our mission is to inspire, educate and empower people affected by diabetes. It wasn’t just my performance, it was the performance of the whole team that shows we are changing diabetes,” said Valognes.
james@khaleejtimes.com