Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka have announced that Enrico Gasparotto will be joining the team from 1 January, 2019.
The 36-year old has had a strong 2018 season. His third place at the Amstel Gold Race was the highlight and it saw him on the podium alongside fellow Dimension Data signings Michael Valgren and Roman Kreuziger. He also won the race both in 2012 and 2016.
Other notable performances include a number of top-10 stage finishes at the Tour de Pologne, Tour de Suisse as well as in Catalunya. While he also took 6th place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The Classics specialist has 10 career professional wins, including an Italian road race title, ridden in 12 Grand Tours and featured in 25 Classics.
Enrico Gasparotto – “I’m really excited and looking forward to 2019. After 14 years as a professional rider I’m joining a group of completely new people who I have never worked with before. It means that at the beginning it will take a bit of time to get to know each other but that only makes me more enthusiastic.
“It’s a great possibility to show the real “Gaspa” and by that I mean the person as well as the cyclist. Right now I’m like a kid at the first day of school! New people who for sure will become friends later.
“The team has signed some really exciting and experienced riders to its existing core working group and forming a unit is always special. I’m sure we can transmit our endless enthusiasm and combined knowledge to all the younger guys but more specifically African riders who seems to have so much talent and hunger for the sport. We must be a good example of professionalism and happiness both off the bike and during the racing periods.
“The Qhubeka charity is something special and important not only for the team but for an entire continent. With our actions we can help and I mean be a real help that you can touch with our hands, and assist a lot of people to improve their every day life. I’m looking forward to see the happiness of the people receiving bikes. We need the positive vibes that happy faces give us, to achieve big results on the bike. I’m an ambassador for a Swiss foundation (Greenhope) so I know the potential that cycling and sports in general have.
“I’m approaching the upcoming one day races in Canada and these are two real goals for the rest of the year. GP Quebec and GP Montreal are two races that I like and I think also suit my skills.
“Obviously the one day races in Belgium during the Ardennes week, and GP Quebec and Montreal are the most exciting races for me, and as an emotional man, I would like to be there in the mix.”
