A thrilling display of attacking racing saw Team Qhubeka ASSOS (www.TeamQhubeka.com) draw widespread praise for their overall performance at Le Samyn on Tuesday, with Victor Campenaerts winning the prize for most attacking rider of the day for Africa’s UCI WorldTour team.
Even so, there was some disappointment at the prospect of missing out on an even better result as sprinter Carlos Barbero was desperately unlucky, with a flat tyre with just over 5km to go on the high speed run in to the final.
After the team played their part in reeling in the day’s early breakaway, they breathed fire into the race through a series of relentless attacks from Campenaerts, the World Hour Record holder, including a final effort within a few hundred metres of the finish.
His efforts, through the support of the entire team, together with a late surge from Lukasz Wisniowski and the the support of Dimtri Claeys, saw the team fall agonisingly short of a podium spot but ultimately declare themselves very satisfied with the day's overall performance.
The race was won in a sprint by Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) with Claeys finishing eighth, Wisniowski 13th and Campenaerts 16th overall.
Victor Campenaerts
We executed a very offensive race (today); in a race on cobblestones to have three riders in the top 16 is a really strong performance.
Of course we want to win but I think it’s a very good result. I was awarded prize for the most attractive rider too, so it was a really good day for the team, and we can be proud of our fight and effort out there.
Dimitri Claeys
We had a really good day with the whole team, and are happy. We rode really offensively and we were able to deliver a good collective result. That said, I think this shows that in the coming races we can still be, and get, better. We still aim to go even higher, and step by step we’ll do so.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Team Qhubeka ASSOS.
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About Team Qhubeka ASSOS:
Team Qhubeka ASSOS (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 (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.
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