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 Meridaās Sonny Colbrelli rounded out the podium another two seconds behind.
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.
āIt means a lot,ā he said. āAlso with second place, Iām very happy, especially because itās my first race with Astana. So itās very, very nice to start not only the season, but a new time of my career with a new team to show that Iām ready, I want to race and they can trust me.
āAstana was searching for someone like me and Iām very happy to be here.ā
After impressing early on, Cort Nielsen has high hopes for the Classics, which he views as his ultimate goal.
āThatās just real cycling,ā he said. āThose are the biggest races to win, with the most prestige, from my point of view. Therefore, thatās where I dream about doing well and see them as the biggest races.ā
It was a breakthrough for Team Novo Nordisk at the Dubai Tour, meanwhile, as Quentin Valognes earned the intermediate sprint crown for the outfitās 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.
āI donāt have enough words in English or French or any language to explain,ā Valognes said. āOur mission is to better educate people on diabetes. By this kind of performance, weāre doing it more so itās an awesome feeling.ā