Share

Eritrea's historic day at TDF

Cape Town - Eritrea's commissioner of culture and sports on Saturday hailed the historic participation of two riders from his country in the Tour de France.

Daniel Teklehaimanot (26) was first off at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT) of all the 198 riders taking part in the Tour on the 13.8km opening stage timetrial as a heatwave hit the Dutch Grand Depart town of Utrecht.

He finished in a time of 16min 30sec, some way behind the early leader, Australia's Rohan Dennis, who clocked 14min 56sec.

Teklehaimanot's fellow MTN Qhubeka teammate Merhawi Kudus (22) was the 45th starter and came home slightly slower in 16min 47sec.

With the slowest rider so far clocking more than 17 minutes, the two Eritreans did at least avoid propping up the standings after the opening stage, although they will likely be ranked fairly low down by the end of the day.

"It's an incredible day, one of the most important in the history of Eritrea and one all Eritreans will remember," said Zemede Tekle, the commissioner.

"We have a special history, cycling in Eritrea is part of our life, it's our culture.

"It was introduced by the Italians in the 1920s, the country was colonised by the Italians, they were living there... with their culture, with their behaviours.

"So they have introduced the cycling and the Eritreans have acquired that and now it's part of our life."

As for what he is expecting from the pair over the three-week tour, Tekle said the country was just proud to see them on the start line.

"The very participation of two Eritreans is a lot, that's the greatest achievement.

"We have their participation for the first time representing Africa, so this is the achievement.

"In the Tour they might be... among the best ones, and (we would) welcome (that). Otherwise we are already happy of the participation of Eritreans."

And Tekle insisted Eritreans all over the global diaspora and back home in East Africa would be tuning in to the Tour to watch the progress of Teklehaimanot and Kudus.

"We have a satellite where all Eritreans in the world follows and it will be direct and every Eritrean wherever he is will follow it."

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 456 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 653 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.41
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE