Team Qhubeka ASSOS (www.TeamQhubeka.com) has named its line-up for the five-stage Tour of the Alps which features a return to racing for Nicholas Dlamini, as one of two South Africans to feature in the team.
Dlamini, who recently placed third at the South African road race championships, returns to European racing following earlier appearances in the season at Grote prijs Jean-Pierre Monsere, Le Samyn and Tour de la Provence.
Dlamini’s ‘s joined by Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Lasse Norman Hansen, who will play crucial support roles throughout.
Domenico Pozzovivo and Kilian Frankiny will carry the main load of the climbing duties during the week where they’ll be calling on the support of youngsters Karel Vacek and Connor Brown in what’s set to be an exciting race.
The highly anticipated race gets underway with a first stage of just over 140km from Brixen to Innsbruck.
We’d like to thank Nigel Malkin (https://bit.ly/32qJnnR) for announcing our team for the race, and for his incredible support of the Qhubeka Charity.
Tour of the Alps line-up [squad numbers]:
- Nicholas Dlamini [17]
- Lasse Norman Hansen [44]
- Kilian Frankiny [19]
- Reinardt Janse van Rensburg [77]
- Domenico Pozzovivo [03]
- Karel Vacek [00]
- Connor Brown [06]
Alex Sans Vega – Sports Director
As you can see from the start list its a climbing race with a lot of good climbers - GC riders - coming to the race, so it’s going to feature a very high level of climbers. For us, our roster is not packed with climbers, only really Pozzo and Kilian, so the main target of the race is for a final preparation for them as we look towards the Giro.
Saying that, of course, if any opportunities come along then obviously we will go for it and for the rest of the guys will be to support Pozzo. On day one we will need to see as it could maybe finish in a bunch sprint and if that’s the case, and if we have some sort control, then we will try and sprint with Reinie.
The rest will be up to the climbers but it’s going to be a good race for the youngsters like Connor and Karel to find their legs in a high-quality climbing race and good experience for the future.
So without many climbers we need to be creative, visible, and look at breakaway opportunities on most days which won’t be easy but we will try to manage it as best as possible to be there, every day.
Nic Dlamini
It’s going to be an interesting race for me as I having been out of racing for some time but I think I just need to get a few stages in to see where I am at; after that then look to build the confidence from there.
We’ve got a good, young team here so it should a solid couple of days and see what we can get out of the race. It will be nice to put ourselves in the front, like all other races and race together as a team.
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 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 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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