If first impressions are everything, Astana will be ecstatic with what they saw from Magnus Cort Nielsen as his debut with the team brought a best young rider honour at the Dubai Tour.
In addition to claiming the white jersey, the 25-year-old Dane also made general classification winner Elia Viviani sweat as he trailed by just two seconds entering the final day.
The late crash on the final turn of stage five did Cort Nielsen no favours, but he appeared too far behind in the peloton to challenge Viviani in the straight anyways.
With the bonuses factored in, Cort Nielsen finished 12 seconds behind Viviani for second overall, while Bahrain Merida’s Sonny Colbrelli rounded out the podium another two seconds behind.
Second place in the final GC and winner of Young Rider Classification: @MagnusCort!
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) February 10, 2018
🗣️"It’s a good debut for me at Astana Pro Team!"
📝#AstanaProTeam Race Report: https://t.co/mLZOyhdXkH.
📸 @bettiniphoto pic.twitter.com/CynuYFphXx
Despite missing out on the Circle of Stars trophy, Cort Nielsen was pleased with what he managed to accomplish in his season and team debut.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Also with second place, I’m very happy, especially because it’s my first race with Astana. So it’s very, very nice to start not only the season, but a new time of my career with a new team to show that I’m ready, I want to race and they can trust me.
“Astana was searching for someone like me and I’m very happy to be here.”
After impressing early on, Cort Nielsen has high hopes for the Classics, which he views as his ultimate goal.
“That’s just real cycling,” he said. “Those are the biggest races to win, with the most prestige, from my point of view. Therefore, that’s where I dream about doing well and see them as the biggest races.”
It was a breakthrough for Team Novo Nordisk at the Dubai Tour, meanwhile, as Quentin Valognes earned the intermediate sprint crown for the outfit’s most significant win to date.
The team, who consist of riders with diabetes and raise awareness for the disease, saw Frenchman Valognes secure the UAE jersey by jumping out in the breakaway, where he finished second in the first intermediate sprint before winning the do-or-die final sprint for the title.
Chris Williams and Charles Planet also entered stage five in contention for the intermediate sprint and the Tour overall showcased just how far Team Novo Nordisk have come since turning professional in 2008.
“I don’t have enough words in English or French or any language to explain,” Valognes said. “Our mission is to better educate people on diabetes. By this kind of performance, we’re doing it more so it’s an awesome feeling.”
WATCH: @teamnovonordisk rider @QuentinValognes comes from behind to win the UAE Intermediate Sprint Classification jersey at the 2018 #DubaiTour.#ChangingDiabetes pic.twitter.com/ooc5vdv3mK
— Team Novo Nordisk (@teamnovonordisk) February 10, 2018
