Tour de France Stage7: Boasson Hagen takes 2nd place after photo-finish

Once again, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka put its mark on the race as Edvald Boasson Hagen narrowly missed out on the victory after a photo-finish call on stage 7 of Tour de France.

Today’s stage was another one of over 200 km for the riders, who not only had to overcome the long distance but also the high temperatures, which continued to accompany the peloton. Four riders attacked right from the beginning of the day and the pack seemed more than happy to let them get away. However, as it has been custom in the Tour so far, the gap never got much bigger than three minutes.

The peloton kept the breakaway on a tight leash but they didn’t manage to reel the front group back in until the last six kilometers of the stage. As it all came back together, the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders started to move to the front. Yesterday, the team performed a strong leadout but unfortunately, Boasson Hagen was left alone at the front a little too early. Today, the riders were eager to get it right and they put in an impressive performance to set up the fast Norwegian.

Reinardt Janse van Rensburg pulled of huge effort at the front of the peloton to launch Boasson Hagen. At first, it looked like the team had taken the win but after the race jury studied the photo-finish, Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) was awarded his third victory of the race. Chris Froome (Team Sky) is still the overall leader, while Serge Pauwels continues to sit in 20th place in the general classification.

Edvald Boasson Hagen:
”The team did so well today. They took me all the way to the line with a perfect leadout. It’s a pity I couldn’t finish it off. However, I’m happy with this second place even though I would have liked to take the win. I’m not a pure sprinter, so to be able to be up there on these flat stages gives me a lot of confidence for the remaining part of the Tour”.
 

Team Dimension Data For Qhubeka

Founded in 2007, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka became the first ever African cycling team to gain a WorldTour license, in 2016. In the team’s palmares you can find a Milan-Sanremo victory, numerous stage wins at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, two Tour of Britain GC victories, and 36 National Championships. The team has bases in South Africa, the Netherlands 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 change lives with bicycles in Africa. #DoYourPart and gift a bicycle or part of a bicycle, by clicking here.

Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”, “to move forward”. Qhubeka (qhubeka.org) partners with communities, public sector, private sector, and non-profit organisations to provide people with bicycles in return for working to improve their community, environment or school attendance. 

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. 

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