“It’s incredible to have two jerseys at a World Tour race. Yesterday was nice for the team to have the KOM jersey but now to get a second one and sit second overall, I have no words,” Planet described. “I’m just proud for me, my team, and all the people affected by diabetes.”
Monumental Day at Tour de Pologne Sees Planet Climb to 2nd Overall
Team Novo Nordisk’s Charles Planet, who races with type 1 diabetes, currently sits one second off the overall lead at the Tour de Pologne.
Katowice, Poland — Team Novo Nordisk’s Charles Planet currently sits one second off the overall lead at the Tour de Pologne after spending a second day in the breakaway. The Frenchman extended his lead in the King of the Mountains classification and took the lead in the Blue Active Rider classification at the seven-day World Tour race.
“It’s incredible to have two jerseys at a World Tour race. Yesterday it was nice for the team to have the KOM jersey but now to get a second one and sit second overall, I have no words,” Planet described. “I’m just proud for me, my team, and all the people affected by diabetes.”
Taking the start in Tarnowskie Góry, the 25-year-old Planet had his mindset on defending his KOM jersey and was quick on the attack as the flag dropped. Once again, Planet enjoyed the company of a rider from the Polish National Team, this time it was Paweł Franczak who flew the flag for the home nation at the front of the race.
The duo quickly earned a 3-minute advantage on the peloton and worked well together with Franczak taking the first intermediate sprint. Despite the previous day’s effort, Planet took both the KOM’s and scored maximum points in the second intermediate sprint to take the lead in the Blue Jersey competition.
As the race entered the first of three final 19-km laps in Katowice, the sprinter’s teams quickly went into action and Planet and his breakaway companion were reeled in with less than 15 km to go.
“It was a super nice effort in the breakaway. I recovered well last night and had super legs,” Planet said. “I had one main goal today, and that was to keep my KOM jersey while seeing the intermediate sprint jersey was available. It couldn’t have gone any better.”
Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton - Scott) sealed the stage victory after a hectic bunch sprint finale that saw Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) take second place and the yellow jersey and Stage 1 winner Pascal Ackermann (BORA -hansgrohe) settle for third.
Planet finished in the main group and narrowly missed out on taking the overall race lead and the yellow jersey. Team Novo Nordisk’s breakaway specialist sits second in the general classification, one second behind Ackermann.
The Tour de Pologne continues Monday with a flat 155.5-km stage from Silesian Stadium in Chorzów to Zabrze.
Team Novo Nordisk is a global all-diabetes sports team of cyclists spearheaded by the world’s first all-diabetes UCI Professional Continental cycling team. In 2012, Phil Southerland, co-founder and CEO of the team, and global healthcare company Novo Nordisk, came together to create Team Novo Nordisk, based on a shared vision to inspire, educate and empower people around the world affected by diabetes. For more information, go to www.teamnovonordisk.com.
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©Photo: Mario Stiehl