As Good as it Gets – SA Tour de France Stage Win on #MandelaDay

It was an emotional win this afternoon for South Africa in the 14th stage of the prestigious Tour de France. MTN-Quebeka cyclist Steve Cummings (34) broke down in tears after winning the stage for the South African team today…Nelson Mandela Day.

The former Team Sky rider told reporters afterwards that during the last few years he believed he was capable of this, but “just needed to find the right team to get an opportunity.” Team South Africa!

The South Africans were offered a wildcard in this year’s race…and have certainly proved their worth. Steve said the “team has stayed calm and they kept confidence in me – they knew I could deliver.” Steve was part of a breakaway group of 20 cyclists…and managed to surge ahead of them to win.

[quote_center]”#MandelaDay! @StevoCummings we love you!”[/quote_center]

For anyone following the race on Twitter this afternoon, it was a wonderful emotional roller coaster ride as the tweets came in from Team MTN-Qhubeka: “Oh my word… @StevoCummings wins the stage!!!”,  “this can’t be real… @StevoCummings wins the the 14th stage of @letour… for @TeamMTNQhubeka?”, “It doesn’t get better than this… a @TeamMTNQhubeka victory at @letour on #MandelaDay! @StevoCummings we love you!” and “#MandelaDay victory for @TeamMTNQhubeka at @letour! *We cant believe it! ;)*”

In a press release published after today’s win, MTN-Qhubeka P/B Samsung said that “the plan was always to animate the stage for our African team on a day where we hoped to bring light to the Mandela Day cause.

“Nobody could have dreamed of the fairy-tale finish that was, Steve Cummings crossing the line solo to win the stage after the stage long break.

“In a late solo escape, Steve was able to distance Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) by a very slight margin but still enough to claim a historical stage victory for MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung.

“The two Frenchmen that took the minor podium placings would hesitate in chasing down our British star when he attacked at the summit of the final climb of the day. This hesitation was all that was needed for Stevo to cross the line first, arms aloft and history written.

“Steve Cummings crossed the line, displaying our teams 5 finger salute, symbolising our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign which aims to put 5000 African children on bicycles. A truly proud moment for our African team.”

[quote_center]”Nobody could have dreamed of the fairy-tale finish…”[/quote_center]

Steve said: “I wasn’t the strongest today and I knew there were better climbers in our lead group. I had to play the waiting game today as FDJ were looking to set up Pinot for the win. I waited and waited and eventually the last climb arrived which I rode at my own pace.

“Pinot and Bardet were just ahead and I used them as the carrot dangling in front of me for motivation.

“Everyone went bananas at the start of the climb but the key was to remain calm and take my opportunity when it arrived. I made contact with the two Frenchman at the top of the climb and knew they might hesitate to chase me if I got the jump on them on the flat part before the finish.

[quote_center]”A truly proud moment for our African team.”[/quote_center]

“I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. It paid off and I won the stage.

“This is an incredible day for me and the team, with it being Mandela Day the team was motivated more than usual but I don’t think we can quite believe what has just happened. It may take a while to sink in.”

Click here for more info about the #BicyclesChangeLives campaign.