Written by Canadian Nippon at 15:24 8/6-2022
Norway Tour: Prologue
After three stages of Norway and a lot of the teams are seeing Red but not the red of the leader’s jersey but that of Canadian Nippon as the team has had a fantastic start to the tour that started with the Prologue.
Canadian Nippon knew heading into the tour that the prologue would be a good chance to wear the red jersey after the first stage as they were one of the few teams to bring some time trial specialist to this year’s tour. Ablel Frint and Conan Guillot would both be looking to podium and to wear the red at the end of first day and stage of the tour of Norway. In the end it was Abel Frint; who would set the early pace being chased down by his team mate Conan Guillot but in the end the time would grant Frint the victory as he did just enough to beat out Guillot and Marcin Pajak of team Kremer. He would be the first to wear the red jersey as the General Classification leader and also lead the Sprint Classification meaning Conan Guillot would wear green heading into stage two.
Must mention the impressive ride by Marcin Pajak of Kremer as he is expected to be one of the main riders after the green jersey this tour and placing third will put pressure on the Canadian Nippon team as Irving Watts finished a very respectable 14th to start the tour only five second off the lead of General Classification. Irving Watts will need to ride an amazing tour if he is going to have a chance to wear the Green Jersey by the end of the tour.
Great start to the tour for Canadian Nippon:
Prologue results:
1st – Abel Frint
2nd – Conan Guillot
14th - Irving Watts
67th – Morris Tomasin
69th – Quentin Worthen
91st – Trevor Reis
After the Prologue Canadian Nippon team didn`t celebrate as the sprint team packed up the bags and quickly jetted across to Qatar to take place in the Al Kwahr - Al Kwahr; which looks like a purpose-built stage for Irving Watts. To everyone surprise and causing some confusion around the teams HQ back in Canada; Irving Watts claimed second during the race in which many at home thought it was the second Stage of the Norway tour until they were corrected with the final faxed race report.
But what a huge day for the teams with 1-2 in Norway and 2nd in Qatar while keeping Irving Watts in striking distance of the Sprinter Classification and General Classification early in the tour.
Stage Two - Harstad-Bodø – Norway Tour – 168km
The second stage of Norway Tour begins in Harstad. Harstad is situated in the south of Troms County, the second northernmost county of Norway. As the riders begin their long journey towards more southern land they leave Hinnøya and go around Ofotfjorden. They quickly leave Troms behind and enter Nordland County. They pass Narvik and continue around Tysfjorden. The landscape is spectacular as the riders follow the coast and the fjords. Steep snow capped mountains rises up around them from sea level. But the riders will follow the lowland all the way until they reach their final destination for the day, Bodø. Bodø is the capital of Nordland and the second biggest city in North Norway. The best sprinters of the peloton will do their best to win this stage and gather points for the Sprinting Classification.
Irving Watts; the Canadian Nippon team leader looking to make up time on Marcin Pajak of Kremer while also trying to collect maximum points in the Sprinters Classification.
The stage played out as expected with a bunch finish towards the final km of the race and the Canadian Nippon train played the strategy well having Irving Watts in position to pounce. It was Jan Averdjjk that launched the final sprint but Irving Watts managed to grab his rear wheel with Irving Watts kicking in the final one hundred meters leaving Jan Averdijk behind but had Marcin Pajak right on the back wheel of Irving Watts but Irving Watts had done enough as he crossed the finish line only a few inches ahead of Marcin Pajak, with Jan Averdijk barely holding onto the final podium position ahead of Joey Halligan.
“My legs felt good today, so when the end was near, I gave it everything I had,” said Irving Watts after winning the 2nd stage.” My team supported me well, they helped me sitting in the perfect position for a sprint.”
Robert Bouchard, manager of Canadian Nippon , was happy with the result: “The whole team did well today. Everything turned out as we hoped, and luckily, Irving Watts was the strongest rider out there today.” The proud manager didn't hide that he was satisfied with Irving Watts's result. “Irving Watts did well. No one deserved the victory more than him. He put his focus on this stage long ago, and he kept his motivation high. I'm happy for him and the team,” said Robert Bouchard.
If anyone is counting that is Canadian Nippon 2 for 2 in the Tour of Norway. Wining the Prologue and Stage 2.
Stage 2 Results:
1st – Irving Watts
37th – Abel Frint
51st – Conan Guillot
55th – Trevor Reis
57th – Quentin Worthen
73rd – Morris Tomasin
General Classification after two stages:
1st – Marcin Pajak, Kremer
2nd – Irving Watts, Canadian Nippon
3rd – Abel Frint, Canadian Nippon
4th – Conan Guillot, Canadian Nippon
5th – Joey Halligan, Darkwave Recording (tied with four others)
Sprint Classification:
1st – Irving Watts – 50pts
2nd – Marcin Pajak – 40pts
3rd – Jan Averdijk – 35pts
4th – Abel Frint – 15pts
5th – Conan Guillot – 3pts
Sadly, Canadian Nippon couldn`t maintain the lead of the General Classification as Marcin Pajak did just enough to claim the red jersey for the Canadian team leading the tour by two seconds over Irving Watts with Abel Frint five second back and Conan Guillot seven second back after the second stage. Irving Watts at least retained the green jersey for the team with the stage victory and leading the Sprinter Classification.
What a way to start the second day of the tour of Norway and so far, everything is coming up Aces for the Canadian Nippon team could the maintain their form as they head into the third stage later in the day? Could they claim a third straight stage victory and reclaim the both the red and green jerseys? That might be a tall ask as the tour starts to climb through the hills towards the mountains that will dominate tomorrow during stage four and five.
Stage Three - Bodø-Mosjøen – Norway Tour – 159km
Hill sprinters delight with an uphill finish at the end expected as the Tour of Norway starts to climb towards the mountains. The stage starts in Bodø, with the riders following the Skjerstadfjorden to east and past the town of Fauske; which is known for having the northern most train station in Norway. From Fauske the riders continue south where they will spot Saltfjellet (The Salt Mountains). Most of Saltfjellet is covered by Svartisen (The Black Glacier), the second biggest glacier of Norway.
Svartisen is known for its deep blue colour that stands in contrast from the white snow. The route in this spectacular landscape is hilly and demanding. As the riders reach the southern part of Svartisen they pass the Arctic Circle.
After leaving Saltfjellet behind the riders reach Ranfjorden and the city Mo i Rana. A hilly terrain awaits after Ranfjorden until they reach their destination Mosjøen, a city located in the head of Vefsnfjorden. The stage will most likely end with a sprint through the main street of Mosjøen although the pure sprinters probably have been left behind long ago.
A lot of sprint points are awarded to during the stage for the top 9 finishers so Irving Watts will need to place in the top nine while scoring as many points towards the Sprint Classification as possible. While hopefully finishing ahead of his rivals on the road and hopeful a few miss out on points due to the hill sprint aspect of the stage.
Canadian Nippon had a perfect day as they controlled the peloton throughout the stage setting the stage for a bunch sprint. Once again, the lead-out train did a fantastic job of placing Irving Watts at the front of the peloton with a few km remaining as the team launched towards the finish line they pulled Irving Watts along to the victory as he never had to use his final kick in the end finishing a wheel length ahead of Bratislav Viškovi? from KRV Rapid Habsburg making the race seem closer though Irving Watts's win was never really threatened.
Canadian Nippon 's Irving Watts didn't hide his joy when winning the 3th stage of Norway Tour. “It's incredible. I didn't expect this at all. I just wanted to try, I aimed for being 5th or 6th, but suddenly I was in the lead!“said the happy winner.
The manager of Canadian Nippon was proud of his rider today. “Irving Watts has been training and preparing himself for this race. It's an important victory - both for Irving Watts but also for the team.”
It was great day also for KRV Rapid Habsburg; who had two rider finish on the podium with Bratislav Viškovi?, and Mirko Diesmann with the later expected to factor heavily in the next two days as the tour continue to climb with Mountain stages head tomorrow.
In the end of two days at the Tour of Norway it has been unexpectedly all Canadian Nippon as the team has even shocked their own manager by winning the first three stages. “I cannot believe we have actually just done that. We hoped to be in a position for a podium or victory in the prologue so we were happy to see the result and even more surprised to see Irving Watts anywhere near the top ten after the prologue.” The manager takes a moment and shakes his head and then continues, “We knew Watts had a chance in the second stage (Harstad-Bodø) as it was a flat stage and easily would finish in a bunch sprint but we expected a podium, not a blood stage win as the flat road specialist should have come to the forefront; putting pressure on pure sprinters but that never materialized.” The manager starts bobbing his head up and down with excitement and disbelief and then continues, “But to win the third stage; where we really expected to finish top ten at best and trying to hold onto as many sprinter points as we could but to come out of the stage with a fifty-point lead in the Sprinters Classification is just bonkers!! Oh, Man!!” He takes a break as he wipes his eyes and looks to be thinking, “Now the fun starts as we need to defend the points gap with stage six Ålesund-Bergen being a huge stage in the tour for Irving Watts now. Still over 100pts in sprint. Either way I am more than happy with the boys today and I will never forget these past two days as how can you beat this when your team wins three stages, second in a stage and second in a race in less than a 24hr period. It almost doesn`t matter what happen in the rest of the tour as I am very happy man today. If we hold the green jersey winning the Sprint Classification or finish in the top ten; we have already accomplished more than we expected in the tour with these three stage victories. Claiming a jersey now simple completes the perfect tour for our sprint team.”
Three straight victories are more then we could have even imagined but reality comes knocking tomorrow with the mountains.
Stage 3 Results:
1st – Irving Watts
45th – Abel Frint
79th – Conan Guillot
94th – Quentin Worthen
95th – Trevor Reis
105th – Morris Tomasin
General Classification after three stages:
1st – Irving Watts, Canadian Nippon
2nd – Marcin Pajak, Kremer
3rd – Abel Frint, Canadian Nippon
4th – Conan Guillot, Canadian Nippon
5th – Bratislav Viškovi?, KRV Rapid Habsburg
Sprint Classification:
1st – Irving Watts – 100pts
2nd – Marcin Pajak – 54pts
3rd – Jan Averdijk – 50pts
4th – Joey Halligan – 48pts
5th – Bratislav Viškovi? -40pts
Next is Stage 4 - Mosjøen-Trondheim – is the first mountain stage and the red jersey will be coming off of the Canadian Nippon teams shoulders for the rest of the tour (unless something crazy happens) and the team is expected to rest the sprinters as much as possible as they climb through the mountains as will require their legs again starting with stage six Ålesund-Bergen.
Subscribers: 12
| |
Comments
No comments yet.
|
Other Team's Press Releases
|
|
|
