Second year at Continental level for Team Novo Nordisk Development in 2022

ATLANTA, Jan. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Team Novo Nordisk Development team head into a new year and their second season as a UCI Continental team ready to hit the ground running with five new faces alongside five existing talents.

A positive 2021 campaign unfolded with standout performances coming at the Five Rings of Moscow and in the Czech Republic at the Tour of South Boheme along with a string of consistent results that saw Filippo Ridolfo, Jan Dunnewind and Robbe Ceurens all make the step up to the professional team.

The fact that TNN devo riders keep progressing up to the senior professional team year after year is viewed as a good problem to have by Development Team General Manager, Daniel Holt.

"Developing riders for the highest level of racing is hard, time consuming work," began Holt. "But I am happy to say that the pipeline is alive, and well and operating on all cylinders. In addition to the three devo riders that graduated to the pro team in 2021."

"Our Talent ID Camp was the most successful ever. We were able to discover five new riders for the Devo team and one rider was able to go directly to the ProTeam. The years ahead look bright with our young, talented riders waiting on the side lines for their chance to show their abilities."

The United Kingdom and France prove to be the two mainstay breeding grounds for 2022 with three riders apiece hailing from the closely aligned shores. 20-year-old Ben Barnett from the UK and 19-year-old Frenchman Celestin Wattelle join American Justin McQuerry and Belgian Kobe Godts as the team's new additions alongside Italian cyclocross talent Jacopo Colladon.

"Our first season as a UCI Continental Team was a great learning experience for our riders and staff," said Holt. "Having a fully European calendar was demanding, but our riders took the challenge in their stride, and grew into it throughout the season. This experience is invaluable when it comes to getting riders ready for the step-up to our ProTeam."

There's a good mix of existing riders and new talent coming on board for 2022 and although the team is taking on a new shape the systems and objectives remain the same, with the major goal to continue to develop by racing a full European U23 calendar.

"We are going into the season with basically a brand-new team," concluded Holt. "Three of our team leaders got the call-up to the ProTeam, and now we are looking ahead to see which riders will make use of the opportunity and take on the responsibility of captaining the Devo team."

"In 2022, we have over 70 race days planned with the early season races taking place in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. After assessing the team at these early races, we may adjust the calendar, but we will keep our core objective of progressing throughout the season to achieve our major goals and keep our development on track."

Team Novo Nordisk Development 2022:

Ben Barnett (GBR, 20)
Sacha Bietry (FR, 22)
Jacopo Colladon (IT, 19)
Nigel DeSota (USA, 27)
Louis Evans (GBR, 21)
Kobe Godts (BEL, 20)
Justin McQuerry (USA, 27)
Dorian Percrule (FR, 23)
Nathaniel Smith (GBR, 21)
Celestin Wattelle (FR, 19)

About Team Novo Nordisk – Racing to Drive Change in Diabetes
Team Novo Nordisk is a global all-diabetes sports team of cyclists spearheaded by the world's first all-diabetes professional 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 http://www.teamnovonordisk.com.

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Media Contacts:

Tim Lindley for Team Novo Nordisk
[email protected]
+1-803-762-4713 (U.S.)
+39 3911106499 (Italy)

Media Contact

Tim Lindley, Team Novo Nordisk, +1-803-762-4713, [email protected]

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SOURCE Team Novo Nordisk