Team Qhubeka Assos (www.TeamQhubeka.com) put in credible performance in its opening race of the season, the Etoile de Besseges. European champion Giacomo Nizzolo placed 4th & 3rd on stages 1 & 2, respectively. Michael Gogl then infiltrated the race defining breakaway on stage 3, taking 9th on the stage and moved into overall GC contention.
Yesterday, an untimely puncture for Gogl put Team Qhubeka Assos on the back foot during the 4th stage, but a good team effort allowed Gogl to limit his losses and held onto 10th overall going into the final 11km time trial stage.
The final race against the clock had riders take on a mostly flat 8km stretch, before ending with a sharp 3km climb to the top of Alès. Gogl, the 10th last rider off, put in a fine performance to stop the clock in 15 minutes and 55 seconds.
This result had Gogl climbing up 4 spots on the overall general classification, finishing in 6th place on GC. A positive result for Team Qhubeka Assos in its debut race of 2021.
The Tour de la Provence is the next race on the teams calendar, and will get underway this coming Thursday.
Michael Gogl - Team Qhubeka Assos
I am very happy with my performance in the TT today and moving up to 6th place in the GC. It was a tough final stage with that ramp up the finish where you just needed to go as deep as you could. I can take this race as a good indication that my preparations over the winter were correct and went well.
A big thanks to all of the riders and staff, they were excellent this week and I thoroughly enjoyed being back racing. Now I am looking forward to the next race.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Team Qhubeka ASSOS.
Media Contact:
Jean Smyth (Head of Communications)
Email: jean@ryder.co.za
Mobile: +27 63 4701 1710 or +31 625 739 033
About Team Qhubeka ASSOS:
Team Qhubeka ASSOS (www.TeamQhubeka.com) is a purpose-led, high-performance team, fighting to win on the world's biggest stage, to inspire hope and create opportunity. Founded in 2007, Team Qhubeka ASSOS (formerly NTT Pro Cycling) became the first-ever African cycling team to gain a UCI WorldTour license, in 2016.
We achieved our first major win in 2013 when Gerald Ciolek won Milan-San Remo, one of the five Monuments of cycling. We have competed in six Tour de France’s and notched up 7 stage wins, with Mark Cavendish wearing the coveted Yellow Jersey at the 2016 Tour de France.
We are a multicultural, diverse team with bases in South Africa, the Netherlands and Italy. There are 19 nationalities represented across our World Tour and continental feeder team rosters. Our focus on developing African cycling has resulted in more than 55 riders from the African continent be given the opportunity to race on the world stage, since the team's inception.
We race to help people to move forward with bicycles through our relationship with Qhubeka Charity. Through our work with Qhubeka, we have contributed to the distribution of over 30 000 bicycles in communities in South Africa.
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.
All images attached to the press release can be used with the respective image credit, Getty Sport, in combination to this release.
