Having already pouched the polka dot jersey at the Criterium du Dauphine, this was the ideal stage for Eritrean ace Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) to get in the break.

With three climbs offering a single mountains point apiece, it was The Tickler who charged to victory on each summit to take the three points and, with it, the polka dot jersey lead.

He didn’t have it all his own way – Kenneth van Bilsen (Cofidis) looked distinctly unhappy to have seen Teklehaimanot pinch the points on the second climb after the two competed for it.

Nevertheless, what MTN-Qhubeka is doing for cycling in Africa is to be hugely commended, and the team continues to blaze a trail through their success on the road too.

The reaction on the continent when Orica-GreenEDGE’s Daryl Impey pulled on the yellow jersey for two stages in 2013 was huge, and now they have not only an African rider but an African team on the podium.

With just one category-four climb, early on in tomorrow’s stage, to come it could be at least two days in the maillot a pois for Teklehaimanot too.

As for the jersey going forward, team-mate Louis Meintjes appears to be one of the team’s best options in the mountains, and at the rate they are ticking off milestones, it would not be too big a surprise if MTN-Qhubeka were to win it either.

For now, though, history has been made as the first African team to earn a jersey – and it should be rightly savoured.