Three professional African cyclists have made the final cut to be part of team Dimension Data for Qhubeka ahead of the Tour de France.
The cycling world’s most high profile race will therefore see a trio of African participants amongst the team of nine riders, which were selected from an initial list of 13 announced recently.
The Dimension Data selection will be the first African World Tour team to compete at the famous cycling event, which is in its 103rd year.
The recent Eritrean Road and TT champion Daniel Teklehaimanot is one of the three African riders in the team, alongside fellow Eritrean Natnael Berhane and South African cyclist Reinardt Janse van Rensburg.
This will be Berhane’s first Tour de France race, and he will be able to learn from his more experienced countryman at the event.
Racing at last year’s event, Teklehaimanot became the first African rider to earn the polka dot best climber’s jersey and only the third African ever to wear a leader’s jersey at the Tour de France on July 9, 2015, as the sixth stage of the cycling race came to a close.
Teklehaimanot negotiated the three category 4 climbs on the route, with one point available to the first rider over the top of each climb at the world’s most famous cycling race. He will be looking to build on that historic performance at this year’s race.
The rest of the team will consist of numerous top riders from Europe, with Steve Cummings, Mark Cavendish, Mark Renshaw, Bernhard Eisel, Serge Pauwels and Edvald Boasson Hagen included in the Dimension Data selection.
Cummings won the African team’s first ever stage at the Tour de France last year, while Cavendish is a decorated rider with great pedigree. Austrian rider Eisel is the team’s road captain, and will lead the team in July’s race.
Commenting on the team selection, Rolf Aldag, Head of Performance for Team Dimension Data mentioned that the nine riders give balance to the team.
“We have picked a very balanced team to be competitive and to represent the Qhubeka charity on every single stage the Tour de France offers this year,” Aldag said, according to SuperSport.
“The first few days will be dominated by the sprinters and we are confident to be right up there with Mark Cavendish, Edvald Boasson Hagen and the committed lead out around Mark Renshaw and Reinhard Janse van Rensburg,” he added.
“Serge Pauwels, Daniel Teklehaimanot and Steve Cummings proved in the past that they can be very successful from breakaways and that is what we try to repeat,” Aldag revealed.
Mentioning Eritrean Berhane as a Tour de France rookie, Aldag feels that he will be able to take a great deal from this experience.
“Bernhard Eisel will serve as a road captain, while Natnael Berhane will learn a lot in his first Tour as well as he will get his own chance on selective stages,” he concluded.
