NTT Pro Cycling (www.NTTProCycling.com) will line up for the second cycling monument of the season in as many weeks, when the UCI World Tour peloton takes on Il Lombardia in Italy tomorrow.
'The race of the falling leaves' comes slightly earlier this year, due to Covid-19 causing a reshuffling of the UCI cycling calendar. While the change of time in season is obvious, the route itself has only a few subtle alterations.
The parcour of this year's edition will be a slightly shorter 231km, but no less challenging, as all the famous climbs of Il Lombardia will feature once again. Expect the race defining moments to play out over the likes of the Madonna del Ghisallo, Muro di Sormano, and Civiglio climbs.
It was NTT Pro Cycling's intention to start with the same team that raced Wednesday's Gran Piemonte, and have Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier lead the team. Unfortunately, after our Eritrean climber crashed out of Piemonte, he will not be able to start Il Lombardia, as he recovers from lacerations to his elbow and ankle.
Enrico Gasparotto replaces Ghebreigzabhier and he will be joined by Danilo Wyss, Ben King, Stefan de Bod, Gino Mader, Benjamin Dyball and Matteo Sobrero.
Ben King - NTT Pro Cycling
"Lombardia is a brutal race suiting the best climbers. The hardest climbs are stacked in the second half of the 230 km course. But it is also beautiful. With so much history and Italian romance surrounding this race, we all want to get the best out of ourselves."
Bingen Fernandez - NTT Pro Cycling Sport Director
Lombardia will be a tough challenge for our team. Normally, Amanuel would have led our team here after the promise he showed last year, racing deep into the finale of Lombardia. Now in his absence there will be new opportunities for our team, particularly for the younger guys, to take their chance and gain valuable experience.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of NTT Pro Cycling.
About NTT Pro Cycling:
Founded in 2007, NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) (www.NTTProCycling.com) became the first-ever African cycling team to gain a WorldTour license, in 2016. With the support of our headline sponsor and technology innovation partner, NTT, we are the most purpose-driven, performance-led, and technology-enabled team in pro cycling today.
Our ambition is to continue to race at the highest levels in world cycling, to develop riders to realise their full potential and to inspire and motivate people across the African continent to ride bicycles.
We have bases in South Africa, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy.
We also ride to raise awareness for Qhubeka, a global charity operating in South Africa, through our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign.
The hands on the back of the team race jersey are a reminder that every Qhubeka bicycle is a helping hand up to a beneficiary, which are provided through Qhubeka's learn-to-earn and work-to-earn programmes.
About Qhubeka:
Qhubeka (www.Qhubeka.org) is a charity that moves people forward with bicycles. People earn bicycles through our programmes, improving their access to schools, clinics and jobs.
A bicycle is a tool that helps people to travel faster and further, and to carry more. In the face of extreme and persistent poverty, bicycles can change lives by helping to address socioeconomic challenges at the most basic level – helping people to get where they need to go.
About NTT Ltd. :
NTT Ltd. (www.hello.global.NTT) is a global technology services company bringing together the expertise of leaders in the field, including NTT Communications, Dimension Data and NTT Security. We partner with organizations around the world to shape and achieve outcomes through intelligent technology solutions. For us, intelligent means data driven, connected, digital and secure. As a global ICT provider, we employ more than 40,000 people in a diverse and dynamic workplace and deliver services in over 200 countries and regions. Together we enable the connected future.
Visit us at our new website www.hello.global.NTT
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