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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 cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...
based in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The team rode to raise awareness and funds for
Qhubeka Qhubeka is a South African headquartered not-for-profit social mobility Charitable organization which donates bicycles to schoolchildren and key workers across South Africa and southern Africa. Qhubeka has donated over 105,000 of their unique bi ...
, 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; ; en, International Cycling Union) 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 ...
, 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 racin ...
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, hist ...
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 is a Canadian manufacturer of racing and track bicycles. Cervélo uses CAD, computational fluid dynamics, and wind tunnel testing at a variety of facilities including the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center, in California, ...
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 professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . He was ranked as no. 3 in the world by UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 years old. He is known as an all-rounder, havin ...
on a 2-year contract. In September 2014 the team announced they had signed
Tyler Farrar Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
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) is part of the French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury. It organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events. The president of ASO is Je ...
(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 stage ...
, 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 Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, ...
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 international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the ...
. The team's second
Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
stage victory came the following month at the
2015 Vuelta a España The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling race. The race was the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España and took place principally in Spain, although two stages took place partly or wholly in Andorra, and was the 22nd race in ...
, where
Kristian Sbaragli Kristian Sbaragli (born 8 May 1990) is an Italian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He rode in the 2014 Vuelta a España and was named in the start list for the 2016 Giro d'Italia. Major results ;2008 : 7th Overall Giro del ...
won a reduced bunch sprint on stage 10.
Daniel Teklehaimanot Daniel Teklehaimanot Girmazion ( ti, ዳንኤል ተክለሃይማኖት ግርማጽዮን, ; born 10 November 1988) is a professional road racing cyclist from Eritrea, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental team . Career Teklehaima ...
made history in the 2015
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
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 Qhubeka is a South African headquartered not-for-profit social mobility Charitable organization which donates bicycles to schoolchildren and key workers across South Africa and southern Africa. Qhubeka has donated over 105,000 of their unique bi ...
bicycle charity rather than receiving sponsorship for them. The change came at the same time as rumours were circulating that
Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...
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 Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
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 in Beckum, West Germany) is a 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, h ...
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 (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') 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 ...
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 is a company specialising in information technology services. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company maintains operations on every inhabited continent. Dimension Data focuses on services including IT consulting, technic ...
. 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'' ( da, Ørnen fra Herning), is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and lat ...
, 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 tours. Originally planned for the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was transferred to Brest because of the ...
, 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 (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') 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 ...
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 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