Preview: Il Lombardia
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka ready for final World Tour race of the season
The 2016 UCI World Tour reaches its conclusion this weekend with the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia taking place on Saturday. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will be lining up at the 'Race of the Falling Leaves' for the 2nd time in our African Teams history after a debut appearance in 2013.
The 110th edition of Il Lombardia will see a slightly more difficult route presented to the peloton as an additional 1000m of climbing has been added to this year’s profile compared to previous editions. The Madonna del Ghisallo, Valcava, Selvino and the cobbled climb to Bergamo Alta among others, will ensure only the best climbers will be in contention for the victory.
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka aim to be one of the protagonists come Saturday and we will have an exciting team ready to race from the front. Igor Anton, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Serge Pauwels, Omar Fraile, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Jaco Venter, Natnael Berhane and Kristian Sbaragli will be our riders contending for top honours.
Anton, Pauwels and Siutsou are each well suited to Saturday's course and they will be looking to be part of the action at the end of the 240km route. Boasson Hagen and Sbaragli may not be typically suit the climbing nature of Saturday's course but the duo's strength cannot be underestimated as they have both proven throughout the year they can be in contention on the hillier races. Berhane, Venter and Fraile will form the backbone of our squad for the final Italian race of the year.
Igor Anton - Rider
I am happy to return to this prestigious race because it is one of the cycling monuments. This will be my 5th participation in this race and I would like to finish the season well. I am in pretty good shape at the moment and this race is really hard and suits me well because there is a lot of climbs. I hope to be able to have a good race and do a good result.
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 #BicyclesChangeLivescampaign, 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.
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