There were moments last winter when even a notoriously optimistic spirit like Douglas Ryder thought of giving up.
The pandemic raged, and there was no climate in cycling to get into conversation with potential donors.
Not a good time to find yourself in dire financial straits with a professional racing team.
The special story of the first African team in the first division, the WorldTour, seemed to end quietly and sadly.
To anticipate: As an underdog in the peloton, the South African team wrote an amazing comeback story in the spring and is currently also representing its colors at the Tour de France. Competing for a good cause with the Qhubeka Foundation in the name and in the background is an important part of the DNA of this cycling company. Right to exist not only thanks to victories on the street, but also thanks to the publicity boost for the foundation, which, among other things, distributes bicycles to children in need in South African townships and thus enables them to go to school, for example.
“The good cause is our mainspring. As a team, the original aim of our team is to draw the attention of a foundation, "said team founder and boss Ryder of the FAZ:" That is probably unique in sport. "But Qhubeka is not the part that provides the lubricant and fuel for a professional company brings, but the money. And that threatened to end completely in December. In order for the wheels to turn, this team cannot avoid classic sponsorship models either. The team has long been a popular figure in the scene with a small budget, but a big fighter's heart and a special face as the first first-class team in Africa.
For the 2020 season, Bjarne Riis came on the scene with lofty plans as team manager for the team, the team started under the name NTT. The dubious vita and attitude of the former Danish top driver and Tour winner from 1996, who admitted massive doping use, took up a lot of space from then on. But the liaison with Riis only lasted ten months. In November - NTT had ruled out a continuation of the engagement - he said goodbye. With the words that he does not consider a rescue of the team to be realistic.
The founder and shareholder Douglas Ryder was alone again. With drivers and employees who didn't know whether the team would still be able to offer them a sporty home for the 2021 season. For most of them, nothing less than the continuation of their professional career was at stake. Ryder put agencies on the march to find funders for his struggling team. And indeed: since a consortium around the Swiss cycling clothing company Assos maintained operations with a mini-budget of around eight million euros at the last minute and a five-year partnership with the financial service provider NextHash was announced shortly before the tour, the future is secure.
Especially since the squad, which was put together with a hot needle after many departures, caused a sensation. It consists of all professionals who are obliged to pay the minimum wage (40,000 euros per year), who seem to have had their prime or who were not expected to have a personal upturn elsewhere. At the Giro d'Italia, the team clinched three stage victories in quick succession - and the cheers were mixed with a large portion of incredulous amazement. “You can't buy heart and passion with money,” says Ryder.
A cosmopolitan selection of racing drivers from eight different nations is at the start for Qhubeka-NextHash on the tour. Including Nicholas Dlamini, the 17th African racing driver that the team is bringing to the start of one of the three-week country tours. The professional racing team, which has been participating in the Tour since 2015, has its headquarters in Lucca, Tuscany. But the promotion of cycling in South Africa or in countries like Eritrea or Rwanda, where there are many enthusiastic riders and fans, is a central concern of the organization.
From a township to a tour: Dlamini benefited from the Qhubeka structures. “I really hope,” he said, without saving pathos, “that this will serve as a reference of hope and inspiration for many young South Africans and people around the world who have worked hard to make their dreams come true.” Dlamini Getting to Paris is one of the team's goals. Because the tour ends on the Champs-Elysée on Nelson Mandela's birthday.