Vuelta a Espana #12: Sbaragli sprints to 4th place in Bilbao
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka go close with Sbaragli once again
Stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana from Los Corrales de Buelna to Bilbao was an eventful one for our team. Nathan Haas had fallen ill and wasn't able to finish today's tough stage within the time limit. For Omar Fraile it was an emotional stage in a different way, as the race reached not only his home area but also passed through his home town. Wearing the KOM jersey (on behalf of GC leader Nairo Quintana), he was keen to represent Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka out front. He was seen to be in nearly every move from the beginning. However, none of these groups managed to forge clear. In the end our Basque all-rounder had to settle for a ride in the peloton, but played an important role in helping Kristian Sbaragli to finish inside the top 5 of the day. The Italian crossed the line in 4th place behind stage winner Jens Keukeleire (Orica-BikeExchange).
It took a long time until a group of six riders managed to form the break of the day. On the cat.1 Puerto de las Alisas, Peter Kennaugh, David Lopez (both Sky), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Romain Hardy (Cofidis), Kenny Elissonde (FDJ), and Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida) reached the summit at kilometer 50 with a gap over the peloton. Yet, Astana wasn't keen on allowing them too much room to play with.
Atapuma was the first to drop out of the lead group after crashing on the descent from the first climb. The other five continued, but weren't able to grow their gap beyond the 3-minute mark. In the end they were reeled back on the El Vivero, a cat.2 climb which needed to be ridden twice today, with 18km left to race.
Dries Devenyns (IAM) was the next to try his luck. He crossed the summit alone, 30" ahead of the group of the GC favourites, in which our African team featured with several riders as well. Sbaragli was one of them and when it all came back together with 1.5km to go, he found himself in a good position.
A late attack by Simon Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) in the final put his teammate Keukeleire in a great position, as when the Australian was caught, Keukeleire could open the sprint. No one was able to come past the Belgian, Maxime Bouet (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) rounded out the podium, with the latter just getting the better of Sbaragli on the line.
Kristian Sbaragli - Rider
It was a very tough stage. We already went full gas from the start to the finish yesterday and today it was not different. There were good riders in the break, but it came all back together in the end. It was a good stage for me. The guys were really super in helping to put me in a good position for the first time up the hard circuit climb. Today was one of the stages I wanted to do well at, it was a bit harder than I expected. The group was really small so I had to go really deep to stay in front. I missed a kick in the sprint, I went early and they overtook me but it's better to try than to have a problem because you waited too long.
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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