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Team Qhubeka () was a
UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...
based in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. The team rode to raise awareness and funds for Qhubeka, a South African not-for-profit organisation. The team was founded in 2007 and was the first-ever African team to ride the Tour de France (2015).


History


Foundation

The team was founded in 2007, becoming a Continental Team in 2008. The team remained as a UCI Continental Team until the end of the 2012 season, with the team registering its interest for a Professional Continental licence for 2013 under the name MTN-Qhubeka. In November 2012, the team were registered as a Professional Continental team – Africa's first – by the
Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...
, for the 2013 season. The team achieved their first major win in 2013 when
Gerald Ciolek Gerald Michael Ciolek (born 19 September 1986) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2016. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . Career Ciolek started racing ...
won Milan-San Remo, one of the 5
Monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
of cycling. The team received their first Grand Tour wildcard for the
2014 Vuelta a España The 2014 Vuelta a España took place between 23 August and 14 September 2014 and was the 69th edition of the race. It featured eight mountain stages, five hill stages, five flat stages, and three time trials (one team and two individual), two of ...
. In July 2014, the team announced that for the 2015 season they would be using
Cervélo Cervélo Cycles Inc. is a manufacturer of racing bicycle, racing and track bicycle, track bicycles. Cervélo uses Computer-aided design, CAD, computational fluid dynamics, and wind tunnel testing at a variety of facilities including the San Die ...
bikes with Brian Smith being appointed interim general manager. In August 2014, the team confirmed the signing of
Edvald Boasson Hagen Edvald Boasson Hagen (born 17 May 1987) is a Norwegian former road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2024. He was ranked as no. 3 in the world by Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 y ...
on a 2-year contract. In September 2014 the team announced they had signed
Tyler Farrar Tyler Farrar (born June 2, 1984) is an American former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2017 for the , , , and squads. Farrar's achievements include winning the 2009 Eurométropole, Circuit Franco-Belge and the 200 ...
and
Matthew Goss Matthew Harley Goss (born 5 November 1986) is a former Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, his final professional team before retirement was the UCI Professional Continental team . He first competed in track cycling before ...
for the 2015 season.


First African Team in Tour de France

On 14 January 2015, the
Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well a ...
(ASO) announced the 22 teams that would participate in the
2015 Tour de France The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 4 July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and concluding on 26 July with the Champs-Élysées sta ...
, with MTN-Qhubeka making history as the first African registered team to take part.
Steve Cummings Stephen Philip Cummings (born 19 March 1981) is an English former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the , , , , and squads, and rode for Great Britain at the Summer Olympic Games, the UCI Road World Championshi ...
brought the team their first stage win of the Tour, stage 14 on
Mandela Day Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual list of minor secular observances#July, international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the ...
. The team's second Grand Tour stage victory came the following month at the
2015 Vuelta a España The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race, cycling race. The race was the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España and took place principally in Spain, although two race stage, stages took place ...
, where
Kristian Sbaragli Kristian Sbaragli (born 8 May 1990) is an Italian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Professional since 2013, he won stage 10 of the 2015 Vuelta a España. Major results ;2007 : 7th GP Dell'Arno ;2008 : 1st Trofeo Buffoni ...
won a reduced bunch sprint on stage 10. Daniel Teklehaimanot made history in the 2015
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
when he spent four days in the race's polka-dot jersey, becoming not only the first Eritrean but the first African to wear that jersey. The success brought him to the attention of the wider cycling world.


Dimension Data as new sponsor

In July 2015, MTN announced they would end their sponsorship of the team. Two months later, Dimension Data was announced as the team's new primary sponsor. The new team name would be "Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka"; the change in name was intended to demonstrate that the team supported the Qhubeka bicycle charity rather than receiving sponsorship for them. The change came at the same time as rumours were circulating that
Mark Cavendish Sir Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx people, Manx retired professional cyclist. As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialised in the Madison (cycling), madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he ...
and his lead-out man
Mark Renshaw Mark Renshaw (born 22 October 1982) is a retired Australian racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2019 for the , , , , and teams. His most notable wins are the general classification of the 2011 Tour of Qatar, and the one-d ...
were about to sign with the team for the 2016 season. Days later the team announced
Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
had agreed to become a major sponsor of the team; the very next day the signing of Cavendish and Renshaw – along with their former teammate
Bernhard Eisel Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport ...
– was confirmed. In November 2015, the team announced that
Rolf Aldag Rolf Aldag (born 25 August 1968) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 2005. He raced in 10 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia and 5 Vuelta a España. Prior to joining Telekom, he raced with Helv ...
had been appointed as the team's Performance Manager with immediate effect, following Cavendish and Renshaw from . Later that month Roger Hammond announced that he would join the team as a sports director for 2016, combining the role with his current position as manager of the squad, and it was confirmed that the team had been granted a
UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...
licence for the 2016 season, becoming the first African team to enter cycling's top division.


Rebranding

In 2020 the team was rebranded as "Team NTT", named for the holding company of
Dimension Data Dimension Data was a company specialising in information technology services. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company maintained operations on every inhabited continent. Dimension Data focused on services including IT consulting, tec ...
. On 8 January 2020, the team announced that
1996 Tour de France The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd edition of the Tour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July). It was won by Danish rider Bjarne Riis. Th ...
winner
Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' (), is a Denmark, Danish former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and later manager of the Oleg Tink ...
, who had previously worked with ., had acquired a third of the team's ownership and would serve as manager. On 11 November 2020, it was announced that Riis would leave NTT Pro Cycling. The team faced an uncertain future beyond 2020, as their main sponsor NTT confirmed to be leaving the team by the end of the year. On 20 November 2020, Douglas Ryder announced that, from 2021, the team will move forward as "Qhubeka ASSOS". The team was further rebranded ahead of the
2021 Tour de France The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours. Originally planned for the Denmark, Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was trans ...
, after a five-year naming rights agreement was signed with the NextHash Group, becoming Team Qhubeka NextHash. However, despite finding a sponsor mid-season again, the team faced financial problems. In December 2021, the UCI announced that the team would not receive a
UCI WorldTour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon performa ...
license for 2022. The team then announced they would continue at the
UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
level with the development team () and hoped to return to the WorldTour in the future.


Team roster


Major wins


National champions

;2010 : South Africa Road Race Christoff Van Heerden : South Africa Time Trial Kevin Evans : Rwanda Road Race Adrien Niyonshuti ;2011 : South Africa Time Trial, Daryl Impey : Namibia Road Race, Lotto Petrus : Namibia Time Trial, Lotto Petrus : Rwanda Road Race, Adrien Niyonshuti ;2012 : South Africa Time Trial, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg : Rwanda Road Race Adrien Niyonshuti : Namibia Road Race, Lotto Petrus : Namibia Time Trial, Lotto Petrus ;2013 : South Africa Road Race, Jay Thomson : Lithuania Time Trial, Ignatas Konovalovas : South Africa U23 Road Race, Louis Meintjes : South Africa U23 Time Trial, Louis Meintjes ;2014 : South Africa Road Race, Louis Meintjes : South Africa U23 Road Race, Louis Meintjes : South Africa U23 Time Trial, Louis Meintjes : Ethiopia Road Race, Tsgabu Grmay : Ethiopia Time Trial, Tsgabu Grmay ;2015 : South Africa Road Race, Jacques Janse van Rensburg : Norway Time Trial, Edvald Boasson Hagen : Eritrea Time Trial, Daniel Teklehaimanot : Eritrea Road Race, Natnael Berhane : Norway Road Race, Edvald Boasson Hagen : Netherlands Track (Kilo), Theo Bos : Netherlands Track (Individual sprint), Theo Bos ;2016 : South Africa Road Race, Jaco Venter : World Track (Madison), Mark Cavendish : Belarus Time Trial, Kanstantsin Siutsou : Norway Time Trial, Edvald Boasson Hagen : Eritrea Time Trial, Daniel Teklehaimanot : Rwanda Time Trial, Adrien Niyonshuti : Eritrea Road Race, Daniel Teklehaimanot : Belarus Road Race, Kanstantsin Siutsou : Norway Road Race, Edvald Boasson Hagen ;2017 : South Africa Road Race, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg : Norway Time Trial, Edvald Boasson Hagen : British Time Trial, Steve Cummings : Eritrea Time Trial, Mekseb Debesay : Rwanda Time Trial, Adrien Niyonshuti : British Road Race, Steve Cummings : Algeria Road Race, Youcef Reguigui ;2018 : Norway Time Trial, Edvald Boasson Hagen : Eritrea Road Race, Merhawi Kudus ;2019 : Eritrea Time Trial, Amanuel Gebrezgabihier : Africa Continental Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons ;2020 : South Africa Road Race, Ryan Gibbons : Italian Road Race, Giacomo Nizzolo : European Road Race, Giacomo Nizzolo


References


External links


Official site
{{UCI WorldTeams Cycling teams based in South Africa Cycling teams established in 2007 Cycling teams disestablished in 2021 Former UCI WorldTeams 2007 establishments in South Africa 2021 disestablishments in South Africa