‘A dream come true’: Ryan Gibbons gears up for Tour de France debut

After climbing the ranks in recent years, Gibbons hopes to recover sufficiently from a recent crash to fulfil his lifelong dream by putting up a fight at the Tour de France.

Born in Johannesburg, the sprint specialist first made a statement at senior level when he took sixth place at the 947 Cycle Challenge in 2015, at the age of 21, and the following year he narrowly missed the podium in the men’s time trial at the national championships.

Having signed for Team Dimension Data (which had since been re-branded as NTT Pro Cycling), he went on to make a career breakthrough by winning the overall title at the 2017 Tour of Langkawi stage race in Malaysia, where he held off a challenge from Australian rider Cameron Bayly to secure his first professional victory.

Making further progress last year, Gibbons enjoyed a superb season, which included three medals at the African Games in Rabat, second place in the elite road race at the national championships, and a fourth-place finish at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race in Australia.

While the 2020 campaign was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Gibbons continued to take his opportunities this season.

Gibbons in action with NTT Pro Cycling teammates earlier this season. Picture: Getty Images

Earlier this year he held off esteemed compatriot Daryl Impey in a late sprint to win the elite road race title at the SA Championships in Mpumalanga, and earlier this month he flaunted his form once more by grabbing third spot in the points classification at the Tour of Poland.

Though Gibbons had competed in four UCI Grand Tour races over the last three years, he was set to make his debut at the prestigious Tour de France starting in Nice on Saturday.

He was set to join Impey, who was riding for Mitchelton-Scott, as the only South African representatives at the gruelling three-week contest.

“This has been a dream of mine, so for it to come true is really surreal,” 26-year-old Gibbons said this week, after he was the first member of the eight-man NTT Pro Cycling team to arrive at the event.

🇨🇵 #TDF2020

A dream come true for @RyanGibbons23! pic.twitter.com/h5LMMXNfuo

— Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (@Q36_5ProCycling) August 29, 2020

Last month Gibbons gave a glimpse of his potential by winning a stage of the Virtual Tour de France, which was held during the global lockdown.

With more experienced riders in the NTT squad, however, he was likely to focus on his role as a support rider on the sprint stages.

“I’ll be doing my bit to assist the team wherever necessary,” he said.

“I think there are going to be a lot of tough days. Even the sprint stages, on paper, are going to be harder in reality, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Enjoying some rest on a team bus, on the sidelines of the 2019 Tour of Turkey. Picture: Getty Images

Despite breaking some ribs in a crash last week, Gibbons said the injury was “improving every day” and he was able to ride.

He was hoping to shake it off in time to make an impact in his long-awaited debut.

Doug Ryder, the NTT team principal, said they were confident that Gibbons would play a key role as they looked to chase stage victories at the race.

“To have the South African champion in our team is something we’re incredibly proud of, and on the broad shoulders of Ryan Gibbons, it couldn’t be on a better person,” Ryder said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing his impact over the next three weeks.”

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