ITALY, April 4, 2018 - The Team Dimension Data Continental outfit took on the UCI under-23 GP Palio del Recioto in Italy on Wednesday and young South African Stefan de Bod took an emphatic solo victory after attacking on the final climb of the race. The GP Palio del Recioto took place in Negrar, Italy, and was raced over a distance of 151km. It was the third time Dimension Data's continental team took part in this prestigious UCI under-23 race, with Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (who now rides for our World Tour outfit) finishing in third place back in 2016. De Bod said it was a really tough race with more than 3 000m ascent over 151km. "I sat in the bunch and waited for the last climb of the day. My teammates looked after me the whole race and I attacked with 25km to go, on the climb, and went solo all the way to the finish," De Bod said after the race. "I am happy to do my part in the team as we ride for Qhubeka, a bigger purpose to put more people on bikes in Africa. I am happy to take my second win of the European season," he added The race saw a huge field of starters, with all the top under-23 development teams from around world represented on the startline. The African Team was looking to De Bod, who recently won the under-23 Strade Bianche, and Matteo Sobrero, who finished third at Monday's UCI under-23 Giro del Belvedere, to lead the charge. DiData's team of Kent Main, Hafetab Weldu and El Mehdi Chokri worked well together to look after the team's two leaders, before reaching the big final climb, that began with 25km to go. It was here where De Bod took the race into his own hands with a strong attack. The rest as they say, was history. The under-23 South African time-trial champion crested the climb with a 15 second lead over his nearest chasers, and then held his gap on the tricky 10km descent all the way to the line. Sobrero sweetened the deal for the Continental team by finishing in fifth place, a fine ride after his podium result the day before.
