Tour de France #19: Edvald Boasson Hagen powers to victory!

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s Edvald Boasson Hagen crowned an incredible performance by soloing to victory after a powerful attack on the final kilometers on stage 19 of Tour de France.

Knowing that today’s stage was the last chance for the opportunistic riders to shine in the race, it was no surprise to see countless attacks during the first part of the stage. It took nearly an hour of hard racing before a group of 20 riders finally managed to distance the peloton.

Boasson Hagen had been very attentive near the front, covering the most dangerous moves. In theory, the fast Norwegian didn’t have to attack, as he would be one of the favorites in a bunch sprint. However, when the big group went away, he was quick to follow, which proved to be a very good decision.

The breakaway worked well together and as the peloton seemed satisfied with the situation, the gap quickly grew to over seven minutes. As the front group took on the last 40 km of the stage, the riders started attacking each other. Ultimately, nine riders - including Boasson Hagen - got away. The new front group kept splitting up but only for a limited time as it always came back together again.

With about three kilometers left to go, Boasson Hagen was smart and took the right way around in a roundabout while the other riders went left. This opened up a small gap. Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) originally followed Boasson Hagen but he couldn’t keep up with the Norwegian time trial champion. Boasson Hagen continued alone and he had plenty of time to celebrate and show the iconic five-fingers-salute for Qhubeka as he crossed the finishing line in Salon-de-Provence.

The peloton finished over 12 minutes down with the yellow jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky) keeping the overall lead before tomorrow’s 22.5 km long individual time trial in Marseille.

Edvald Boasson Hagen:
“This is fantastic. The team helped me a lot before the break went away. They controlled the peloton and on the climb, I was in a good position to follow the attacks. Within the front group, we worked really well together all day. Naturally, at the end, there were some attacks but I managed to close them down a ride quite smartly. I had studied the course and I knew I had to go right in that last roundabout. Afterwards, I managed to go solo and I was so happy when I crossed the line. I’ve been so close so many times. It’s really nice to finally get this victory for the team and for myself as well”.
 

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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