What an incredible end to a perfect debut Tour de France for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung. Edvald Boasson Hagen sprinted to a fine 4th place on the Champs Elysees for our African team on today’s 21st and final stage. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won the final stage while Chris Froome (Team Sky) won the Grande Boucle overall.
As the riders set off for Paris earlier today, it would be an incredible day of reflecting back on what was a dream 3 weeks for our African team. From the moment Daniel Teklehaimanot made history by getting the 102nd Tour de France underway in the Eritrean national jersey, we couldn’t have written a more perfect script for what was to come.
To ride away from the Tour de France after having Daniel spend 4 days in the Polka Dot jersey, a Mandela Day stage win courtesy of Steve Cummings, 14 stage top 10 results including 7 of them being top 5 placing’s, finishing 5th in the overall team competition and a 13th on the General Classification with Serge Pauwels ensured we exceeded all of our own expectations.
The exposure we were able to bring to our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign was also a resounding success as we received a massive amount of support from across the globe. We would dearly love to thank everyone: fans, media, fellow competitors, the A.S.O and all of partners for the amazing support we have received over these last 3 weeks. You were all a part of history!
Tyler Farrar – Rider
Merhawi Kudus – Rider
Super proud of you guys. Flying the flag so high.
Very, very well done. Proud of you guys, Douglas.