Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 1, September 2014 | Page 6

MC

in the lead

Racing
for
others
Riders from MTN
Qhubeka powered
by Samsung have
made history by
being part of the
first South African
registered pro
continental team to
race at a grand tour,
the 2014 la Vuelta
a España. But what
makes this unique
team different from
the rest? Modern
Cyclist chatted to
team principal Doug
Ryder and found
out.

hile reading this,
you are probably
following the
progress of Louis
Meintjies, Gerald
Ciolek and other
riders from MTN
Qhubeka who
are in a pitched battle against the likes
of Sky’s Chris Froome and Cannondale’s
Peter Sagan in the Vuelta a España.
Riders like Chris will probably be eager
to make up for disappointing Tour de
France performances and that alone
would make many other riders a bit
uncomfortable.
But what might make others
uncomfortable will probably motivate
MTN Qhubeka riders even more because
they are racing for a higher goal. A

Champions of the future: Waiting for your
slot to start a race affects all levels of
racing. Photograph from MTN Qhubeka.

cause intertwined into the DNA of
this history-making pro cycling team
which, when they lined up at the start
of the Vuelta a España on 23 August,
became the first South African owned
and registered cycling team to take
part in one of cycling’s five grand tours.
“At the end of the day, we are racing
to put more kids on bicycles. The more
successful the team is, the more money
we can raise for Qhubeka,” says Doug
Ryder, himself a former professional
cyclist.
This ethos comes from a dream that
Doug had in 1997.
“The theory is that Africa currently has
the world’s best endurance runners so
why can’t we have the world’s best
cyclists?”