Tour de France 2016: Chasing Dreams

Statistics of an iconic race

The Tour de France 2016 is wrapped up since a few days. It was another one for the history books, and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was one of its main storytellers. The results our African Team achieved over the last three weeks of racing in France are remarkable: 5 stage wins, a day in Yellow, 6 days in Green, 15 top10’s – but best of all, lives changed through the #Qhubeka5000 activation.

The Grand Boucle couldn’t have started better for us with a win on stage 1. Mark Cavendish finished off a strong team performance and earned his first ever Yellow Jersey at the iconic French Grand Tour. It was also the team’s first ever Maillot Jaune, in our first ever stage of the race as an African based World Tour team.




The success story continued with Cavendish expanding his Tour de France stage win record to 30 wins taking him to 2nd on the all-time Grand Boucle stage win record list. His wins on stage 1, 3, 6 and 14 were rounded out by Steve Cummings exceptional solo on stage 7, which earned him his second Tour de France stage win, To add the incredible 2nd place on the iconic Mt Ventoux stage for Serge Pauwels and Edvald Boasson Hagen’s 3rd place on stage 10 the team ended an incredible Tour de France with 6 out of our 9 riders getting into the top10 on stages and 7 podiums.



The team would like to thank Dimension Data, Deloitte and all of our partners and fans for the ongoing support. Without this support it wouldn’t be possible for us to chase our dreams.



Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka is lucky enough to be able to race on the world’s fastest equipment.

Frame: Cervélo S5
Cranks: ROTOR
Cockpit and Wheels: ENVE
Chain: KMC
Tires: Continental
Bearings: CeramicSpeed
Saddle: Fizik
Bartape: Lizard Skins

Apart from our sporting goals we would like to thank our fans and partners for their ongoing support of our#BicyclesChangeLives campaign and those that in #Qhubeka5000 – an initiative through which we try to raise donations to provide 5.000 bicycles to learners in rural areas in Africa. Over the last few weeks we were able to fund 3.669 bikes. Together we will reach our goal and make an impact that matters!

 

You can now auction off two limited edition posters signed by the 9 Tour de France riders. All proceeds will go to Qhubeka. To place your bid, simply click on the images above or the 2 links below.

Facebook Auction – click here
Instagram Auction – click here

Douglas Ryder – Team Principal
This Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka team is so special realising more dreams during this Tour de France like we did a year ago in our inaugural Tour as Africa’s first ever registered team. To win the 1st stage and wear a yellow jersey, the first for Mark Cavendish and the first for our team, was already a dream come true. For Mark to win 4 stages and fight hard and spend 6 days in the Green Jersey was a huge bonus and took incredible commitment from him and a passionate team. Steve Cummings incredible stage 7 victory giving the team back to back stage wins showed the focus and determination of Steve and the preparation of the team to focus on specific stages with our talented group of riders. Natnael Berhane in his first tour was a huge support and enjoyed the thrill of being a part of the success. Serge Pauwels came so close to winning the Mt. Ventoux stage with Daniel Teklehaimanot in 7th on an iconic stage. Edvald Boasson Hagen taking 3rd on stage 10 after him and Steve Cummings fought hard in the days breakaway and numerous other top 10’s including 4th on the final stage on the Champs-Elysees proves that another Tour de France stage win is in his grasp in the future. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Mark Renshaw were critical in support when it counted and rode like 10 men with the incredible road captain Bernie Eisel leading from the front. The ultimate dream of realising 5,000 people on bicycles is well on its way to being achieved too. This could not have been done without the support from all staff and riders and of course the fantastic partners of Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.
 

Team Dimension Data For Qhubeka
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was founded in 2007, steadily working its way up from a regional team to now being a World Tour team with bases in South Africa and Italy. It’s also known as Africa’s Team due to its focus on helping African talents to the world stage of cycling. The team races to raise funds for the Qhubeka Charity to mobilise people on bicycles in Africa. To contribute to the #BicyclesChangeLives Campaign, click here.

Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”, “to move forward”. Qhubeka (qhubeka.org) is part of World Bicycle Relief (worldbicyclerelief.org), a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation through the power of bicycles.  

Dimension Data (dimensiondata.com) uses the power of technology to help organisations achieve great things in the digital era. As a member of the NTT Group, we accelerate our clients’ ambitions through digital infrastructure, hybrid cloud, workspaces for tomorrow, and cybersecurity. With a turnover of USD 7.5 billion, offices in 58 countries, and 31,000 employees, we deliver wherever our clients are, at every stage of their technology journey. We’re proud to be the Official Technology Partner of Amaury Sport Organisation, organiser of the Tour de France, and the title partner of the cycling team, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.

Learn more about the team at www.africasteam.com. 

All images attached to the press release can be used with the respective image credit in combination to this release.