http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/doug-ryder-mtn-qhubeka-is-destined-for-greatness
Feature date: January 01, 2015, 12:13 GMT
Doug Ryder: MTN-Qhubeka is destined for greatness
By: Sadhbh O'Shea Published: January 01, 2015, 12:13 GMT, Updated:
January 01, 2015, 12:15 GMT
Team boss talks plans to make history at the Tour de France
MTN-Qhubeka are looking to make history in 2015 by becoming the first
African team to make it into the Tour de France. The team, which began
in 2007, has been growing quickly over the last few years. They took
the step up to Pro Continental level in 2013 and took part in their
first Grand Tour at last year’s Vuelta a España.
To help them in their hopes of making history, the team have signed
eight new riders including Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar and
future Grand Tour rider Natnael Berhane. Cyclingnews sat down with
Doug Ryder, the man behind the team, to discuss making history,
putting together one of the strongest lead-out trains in the business
and trying to inspire a continent.
Cyclingnews: Is 2015 a real pivotal year for the team?
Doug Ryder: We’ve thrown the kitchen sink at this year. We’ve built so
incredibly over the last two years and I can’t believe that we have
continued to build at this rate and the staff and riders that now want
to come to our team. We must be doing something right. We’re really in
a sweet spot at the moment and if our stars align then I really
believe that this team is destined for great things this year.
CN: You’ve brought in eight new riders, were you worried at all about
how they would connect?
DR: When we signed all these guys, there was this perception that
there were so many egos that there was no chance that they were going
to work together. We had lots of discussions with the riders and we
spoke about what this team is about and told them to leave their egos
at the door. If someone’s going to come in and think, I’m going to win
this is my race and I’m not going to work for someone else then I’ve
told them guys this is what you impact [referring to the Qhubeka
project]. Whenever that comes to the fore, think about this because
then you’ll work together like glue and paper.
CN: How did the decision come about to sign all these WorldTour riders
and who made the decision in terms of the types of riders you went
for?
DR: We want to build and develop the general classification riders
from the African continent and to bring in a GC rider, a good one,
costs so much money and we don’t have that budget. We also didn’t want
to be a team that focusses on one big objective and if that fails then
there goes the whole season. We need to win races to grow the brand of
the team and to grow the Qhubeka charity so that we can do more for
others.
The international riders are there to help us win races but also to
help the younger guys. I don’t want to be a team Colombia where they
can’t attract the best Colombians to their team because they don’t
have the depth. Rigoberto Urán and Nairo Quintana won’t ride for
Claudio Corti’s team because he doesn’t have the depth and they won’t
reach their big dreams. I don’t want that to happen for our best
African riders.
CN: The WorldTour riders are in the team to bring the victories to
earn wildcards and help the younger riders but do you also feel a
responsibility towards them too?
DR: We want them to be inspired in this team and we give them the
freedom, and not the pressure that they’ve had in the past. I think
that WorldTour teams are incredibly pressurised environments. We’re
hoping the inspiration goes both ways.
With them mentoring the African riders they know that the African
riders will give absolutely everything that they have, and inspire
them with hardships that they’ve had in the past. Take Daniel
Teklehaimanot. Daniel is one of 17 children and all of his brothers
and sisters have defected and he’s the only one that can go back to
Eritrea so he keeps the whole family together. I think that the
Europeans are completely humbled by this and that will drive them onto
bigger success.
CN: Does the influx of European riders dilute the team’s mission of
developing African talent?
DR: We started with this team as a 70 per cent African team and we
were a bit over ambitious to start with such a high number of African
riders who were very young and inexperienced. We’ve only dropped that
a little bit to 60 per cent, that’s 13 out of the 22 riders. It is
still a significant number. We will always sign young riders from the
African continent first and foremost over a young European rider to
develop their talent.
CN: The Tour de France is the team’s main target, with IAM Cycling
stepping up to the WorldTour is that wildcard spot a near certainty?
DR: Nothing is concrete and ASO keep their cards close to their chest
and they have to. They have to be fair and transparent with every
team. Do we have a good feeling? Yes we have a good feeling,
especially with the performance in the Vuelta but we are not counting
our chickens. We have to wait and see because everything can happen.
CN: What is possible for the team in 2015?
DR: One of the goals for the riders is the spring classics but even
before that we would love to go to the Tour of Qatar and win a stage.
We would love to start the season with a win. I know that Edvald
Boasson Hagen is super keen on Paris-Roubaix, imagine getting top 10
in Paris-Roubaix that would be out of this world. The Tour of Flanders
is also a big goal for the team with Tyler.
A really strong spring classics campaign is what we’re looking for and
that will really help us to get out ticket into the Tour. Then, a
stage win in the Tour de France would just be exceptional. I really
hope that we will be able to get into the Tour of Spain as well. The
perception is that the Pro Continental teams are not strong enough and
don’t have the depth and talent to do two Grand Tours. We believe that
with the depth that we have and with the talent and the race structure
of the races we have the perfect balance to be able to do those races.
If we went to the Vuelta then we would love to win a jersey.
CN: If the success does come in 2015 could a step up to the WorldTour
in 2016 be on the cards?
DR: That’s our goal. If we can become a WorldTour team then we can
give more African riders more opportunity and take them to the biggest
races in the world. To have an African-registered WorldTour team where
people know for sure that you’re going to be in the biggest races in
the world, the fan support around the team and the confidence of our
riders from that surety of knowing it isn’t a lottery will drive them
to another level. That’s what we’re driving towards and let’s just
hope that the first six months of 2015 are an indication that we’re
ready to step up.
CN: There will be a lot of changes to the sport in 2017, what are your
thoughts on that?
DR: It’s a bit iffy on whether it will happen or not. Do I think that
teams should cut down their size? No, because that’s less riders with
jobs. If there were more teams then I would say it is fine. I don’t
think that you can reduce the number of riders without increasing the
number of teams because then the pyramid just gets pointier. It just
means that people move down a level and others fall off the bottom and
off the bus completely. It’s so hard this sport and there’s so many
riders that work so hard for others and they’re the ones that always
get left off, and that’s sad.
CN: How difficult it is to balance the often dog eat dog world of
professional cycling with the Qhubeka charity?
DR: Look after yourself first I guess. We don’t worry about what other
teams do, we care about ourselves and the sustainability of our
project. We really look after our riders and give them the surety that
we don’t just replace riders because we build for time and we want to
be sustainable. We love the sustainability and we want to engage with
the people for the long term. It’s going to be difficult to keep our
best riders because people are going to be trying to poach them but we
hope that we can create the environment that is safe and secure so
that they want to stay with us.
CN: How have things changed for the team in terms of the reaction you
get back in Africa?
DR: As we’re getting closer to getting into the Tour de France, the
interest in our team has been going to incredible heights. In South
Africa the Tour de France is everything and once we get there, race it
and do well, and show the potential and the talent, I think that it
will open doors for other riders.
For me, that is the most important thing. We don’t want to be the only
African Pro Continental team. We want to pioneer change. Could you
imagine and Ethiopian team or an Algerian team or an Eritrean just to
show what the potential is. We hope that the Tour de France and our
involvement in that will grow and get more people into cycling.
Received on Fri Jan 02 2015 - 15:03:13 EST