Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 1, September 2014 | Page 8

The effect of your support
Doug says that when the riders see, hear
and feel the support of the fans, it can make a
huge impact on their performance.
“When we raced in Switzerland, Eritrean rider
Daniel Teklehaimanot got into a break away.
A group of Eritreans, who had no interest in
cycling and didn’t know of the existence of an
African pro cycling team, saw this break away
on TV, drove 200 kilometres to where we were
and waited for him at the team bus, all of them
waving their Eritrean flags. When Daniel finished
the race he was overwhelmed by this small but
enthusiastic group of fans. They were all over
him, taking photographs, it was unbelievable.
He felt like a rock star!”

At the team’s HQ in Italy, an Aladdin’s
Cave of bicycles are made ready for
racing. Photograph from MTN Qhubeka.

“They are 100% ambassadors for
Qhubeka, which is why Gerald Ciolek
came to South Africa last year to be
involved with a bike handover,” he
explained.

“If this does get off the ground, I believe
we can have a black African world
champion who can become an icon
who can, in turn, encourage people to
get on their bikes,” he said.

The team’s other sponsors all have to
give something to the cause. Italianbased clothing sponsor Castelli, for
example, donates 12% of the sale price
of branded clothing to Qhubeka.

From MTN Qhubeka’s point of view, the
next goal is to get into the 2015 Tour de
France, and to do that, Doug will have
to make a few changes to the team.

And the impact of this on the ground is
incredible.
“You get to bike handover ceremonies in
the rural areas and the kid’s eyes light up.
By giving him a bicycle, you’ve actually
given them independence because
they now have access to so many things.
Qhubeka is a hand up program, not a
hand out program, so the kids have to
work before they get the bike by planting
trees, improving their school attendance
and picking up litter, and then they
appreciate the bike’s value more,” he
explained.
So with a bike, a child can attend school
more and open up his or her universe.
And it is this impetus that Qhubeka
merged with World Bicycle Relief,
which is linked with World Vision, one
of the largest Christian-based charity
organisations in the world. This alliance
has meant that 500 bicycles per month
can be given to kids who attend the
schools where World Vision operates.
And to spur the children on, Doug wants
to see a future cycling world champion
who hails from Africa.

“We’ve realised that 70% African
component to our team is perhaps
a bit ambitious so we’ve decided to
drop that by 10%. So we really need the
depth that one or two real star riders will
give us. And with a number of sponsors
pulling out from other teams, I believe
there will be riders available at the end
of 2014,” he explained.
International riders like Gerald Ciolek
play an important role in the MTN
Qhubeka set up, not only with their
ability to perform well in races but to
act as mentors for the younger, African
riders.
“So we need everyone’s support,
not just for the races we know we will
compete in, but also the races we want
to compete in, like the Giro de Italia
and the Tour de France,” conc