UAE Team Emirates rope in SA rider Gibbons

ABU DHABI: UAE Team Emirates have put pen to paper to bring Ryan Gibbons to the Emirati squad on a two year contract.

The 26-year old from Johannesburg, South Africa is the current national road champion and won a gold medal in the time trial at the 2019 African Games. He stepped up to World Tour level in 2017 with NTT and has spent his entire career so far with the African team.

Gibbons represents the third new signing for 2021 with Matteo Trentin and Rafal Majka also joining the team.

Gibbons: “I am thoroughly looking forward to joining UAE Team Emirates for the next two seasons. I feel honoured to be part of such an incredible setup, which has achieved so much success and proven to be one of the best teams in the peloton.

“I have no doubt that this transition is crucial for my personal growth and my future as a professional cyclist and I am eagerly awaiting the start of this new journey,” added Gibbons, who was named in the start list for the 2017 Giro d’Italia and won the opening stage of the first-ever Virtual Tour de France on July 4, 2020.

Prior to starting his road racing career at junior level, the Johannesburg-born rider used to compete in mountain bike racing. He was a member of the NTT Pro Cycling team at this year’s Tour de France that was won in amazing manner by UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar.

Mauro Gianetti, Team Principal, said: “Ryan is a versatile rider who has shown himself to be very dynamic and a strong team player. He has progressed well over the past few seasons and we hope he can continue that progression in our team as we continue to build for the future.”      

Gibbons is the third new signing for the upcoming 2021 season, following Matteo Trentin and Rafal Majka who have also joined the team earlier this month.

Last week, Majka joined the UAE Team Emirates for the next two seasons. The climber from Krakow will add strength on the hills to the squad led by Gianetti.

“With Rafal, our group of climbers is getting a strong boost,” the Team Principal Gianetti had said.

“We are sure that in addition to being a solid wing-man for Tadej Pogacar, he will also be able to target his personal ambitions and be given some freedom.”

Majka said, “I am very happy to have been given this opportunity at this point in my career. I will work for Pogacar when necessary, but I will also try to carve out chances for myself when I can.

“Races like Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour de Suisse and also the Vuelta a Espana, are the races where I usually find good form. In that sense I’m not your typical Polish rider – I love the heat. A dream result would be a world championships medal to add to the Olympic one.”