http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-2015-we-want-a-black-african-tour-winner-in-the-next-10-years-20150703-gi4akw.html
Tour de France 2015: 'We want a black African Tour winner in the next 10 years'
Date July 3, 2015 - 1:05PM
When MTN Qhubeka line up in Utrecht tomorrow for the grand depart of
this year's Tour de France, it will represent a landmark moment in the
history of cycling; the first African team to compete in the 112-year
history of the world's greatest bike race.
At least, that is how it is being billed. The truth is that the
statement comes with a few caveats. Back in the 1950s, when the Tour
comprised national and regional teams, rather than the current trade
teams, a North African squad made up of Algerians and Moroccans
entered for three consecutive editions. And there were African riders
even before that. The Tunisian Ali Neffati, who raced in 1913 and
1914, is believed to have been the first.
Team MTN Qhubeka arrives by canal boat for the team presentation ahead
of the 2015 Tour de France. Photo: Getty Images
But it is certainly true to say that post-boom, in the modern,
professional age, MTN Qhubeka are true trailblazers; registered in
Africa, backed by the continent's biggest telecommunications company,
over half of their riders at this year's Tour - five out of nine -
will be African-born.
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Even then, Doug Ryder, the team principal, knows his job is only half
done. He knows it was largely on the strength of the team's
non-African imports, riders such as the Norwegian Edvald
Boasson-Hagen, American Tyler Farrar, Briton Steve Cummings and
Belgian Serge Pauwels - all of whom will be racing this year - that
MTN Qhubeka, a Pro-Continental team, got their Tour wild card this
year.
It will be a few years yet before MTN Qhubeka will be able to field a
fully African squad. That day is coming, though.
For many in cycling, Africa is the sport's sleeping giant; a vast area
of untapped potential. MTN Qhubeka are just one of a number of
projects - from Team Rwanda to Kenyan Riders - aiming to tap into that
potential, albeit it is not an easy process. The lack of a pan-African
cycling culture, not to mention bikes, sponsors and even paved roads
in some countries, makes the task extremely difficult.
MTN Qhubeka's mission is only partly to do with professional cycling.
The "Qhubeka" part of the team's name - Qhubeka being a Xhosa word
meaning "to progress" - is a charity which aims to "mobilise people
with bicycles", giving bikes to Africans in exchange for community
work.
Ryder, though, is optimistic. "I believe in the next three years we
could have a black African rider on the podium in a grand tour," he
says. "The riders coming through are young in age and experience. They
are 24, 25, 26. They are still getting used to riding in bunches,
getting used to the tactics.
"There are certain things you just can't simulate on a timed effort up
Alpe d'Huez. But the potential is there. As more riders come through
so the upward pressure will start to have an effect. My dream is that
in the next two to three years there will be an African rider on every
WorldTour team."
He adds: "The funny thing is we presented a five-to-10-year plan to
[Tour organisers] ASO but it's now been two years and we have already
got a place on the Tour. I did not think we would get there in the
first five years. But the riders are there on merit." That is clear.
Daniel Teklehaimanot, one of two Eritreans on the Tour team - Eritrea
being one African country where there is a culture of cycling thanks
to their former colonial masters Italy - won the King of the Mountains
title at the recent Criterium du Dauphine. He will be aiming to win a
stage at this year's race, as will the promising South African climber
Louis Meintjes.
A a bigger, more romantic, question looms: when will we have a first
black African Tour champion? For surely it is a question of 'when' and
not 'if'?
Brian Smith, the Scottish ex-pro brought in to run the team by Ryder,
admits the aim for this Tour is to win a stage and finish with all
nine riders if possible. But looking further ahead he is bullish.
"We have to deliver a black African Tour champion in the next 10
years," Smith says. "And I believe we can. Africa has so much untapped
potential. MTN going to the Tour will encourage other teams, riders,
and perhaps most crucially, sponsors. Supersport will be beaming the
Tour to millions. It will help Qhubeka get more bikes to more people.
More people on bikes leads to more riders, leads to a deeper talent
pool and so on. Look at Britain 20 years ago. The thought of a British
Tour champion was inconceivable. In 1986 when ANC-Halfords went to the
Tour they were the whipping boys. Now look."
Rob Higley, a coach at Kenyan Riders - an extraordinary project
started by a Singaporean maverick called Nick Leong, who had a dream
that Kenya's success at running could be parlayed into cycling - is
equally convinced.
He said: "The greatest assets of the Kenyans I work with are a
warrior's focus, high levels of athleticism, and usually some
prolonged work experience on a heavy single-speed bike," Higley
explains. "Additionally, for various reasons that heighten motivation,
they are desperate for success.
"My task has been to accelerate the transference of perambulatory
athleticism onto a road bicycle in a controlled manner. Ultimately we
want racehorses, not workhorses. Conserving expanding tanks of energy,
in terms of patience and pacing, has been the most difficult attribute
to teach - but it's coming."
"It is the culture that needs to change," agrees Smith. "Of course
there are different physiologies and the fact some might live at
altitude might help but the biggest factors for me are societal,
behavioural."
It is why MTN Qhubeka have set up a training base in the Tuscan town
of Lucca where they endeavour to acclimatise their African riders to
the European cycling culture while trying to harness their raw
potential.
"A bicycle has changed Boasson Hagen's life but not as much as it
would a kid from a township in Soweto," Ryder explains. "Our riders
are not just supporting themselves they are supporting their
communities and families - Daniel, for instance, is one of 17
children. It is incredibly inspiring. They are heroes at home.
"And they are tough. [The Eritrean] Merhawi Kudus crashed at 70kph at
last year's Vuelta. I guarantee you that no European rider would have
finished that race. But he did. The desire he showed was incredible.
It was like awakening the lion. In the Kruger he looks all peaceful,
but if you wake him up he becomes a different animal."
The Telegraph, London
Received on Fri Jul 03 2015 - 22:01:56 EDT