AFRICA: The Riders and Program of MTN-Qhubeka

Africa - The Riders and Team Program of MTN-Qhubeka

Unlike the rest of the profiles on this blog, MTN-Qhubeka is not an example to be studied historically. Rather, it represents the hope of a continent, and not simply over sporting accolades, but development goals as well. MTN-Qhubeka provides a unique look into not only the hope of a continent, Africa, but is a long-term vision of how sport, specifically cycling, can not only give an outlet for national or transnational pride, but also serve the greater good in very tangible, achievable ways.

Credit: Twitter

Credit: Facebook

The concept of MTN-Qhubeka is entirely unique. On the one hand, this is a professional cycling team whose keystone sponsor, MTN, the South African telecommunications giant, as well as Samsung, another key sponsor, obviously see advertising value in. However, on the other hand, its other sponsor, Qhubeka, is interested in exposure, so as to better fulfill its mandate of providing bicycles to mainly rural African populations in order to be able to better self-actualize the lives of their communities as well as individually. In short, Qhubeka's fundamental philosophy is that "transportation is a fundamental element of development. Finally, for a bike manufacturer like Trek, which sponsors MTN-Qhubeka, it gains exposure through its sponsorship of a pro-cycling team, but also gains a different sales market through its altruism, and finally, helps out the developing world through its partnership with MTN-Qhubeka.

The goal of MTN-Qhubeka is to reach the Tour de France by 2015 with a team made up of 50% or more of black African riders. The questions that this blog post must then focus on are why and how. What impact WOULD the Tour de France have on Africa if it were represented by the riders and team of MTN-Qhubeka

WHY?

For Team MTN-Qhubeka, the reason is relatively obvious, as it is with any other team sponsoring a professional cycling squad: advertising. And yet, it is a different kind of advertising. The hook, in this case, is altruism. Helping the developing world is the angle that Samsung, MTN, and Trek take when they commit their companies to such a team. Melding development and professional sport/advertising is a new and exciting opportunity for exposure. And the exposure of a "feel good story" at cycling's highest level, one of the sporting events with the highest level of viewership in the world, is very alluring. A testament to this notion, Cycling News has Ethiopia's Tsgabu Grmay blogging about his experiences in professional races in the United States currently. 

Specific to the Qhubeka organization, the hope is that a team of at least half black African riders would do two things: a) inspire the youths of Africa to develop a cycling culture which would greatly enhance the continent's development; and b) to raise the profile and visibility of their program and development in Africa continentally-- likely with the hopes that more individuals and more corporations open up their collective chequebooks to support this development program with the goal of providing 200,000 bicycles to Africans by the year 2010.

Finally, for the coaches and riders of Team MTN-Qhubeka Presented by Samsung, individual motivations range from altruism to nationalistic pride, in the case of Tsgabu Grmay:

Credit: Supersport.com

For others, such as Algeria's Youcef Reguigui, the goal is to develop the sport, already a popular one, in their home countries (Reguigui hails from Algeria):

For somebody like Nicole Allan, Directeur Sportif for MTN-Qhubeka (primarily the mountain bike division, but occasionally road races), she hopes to show that she is as capable as her almost exclusively male colleagues in Europe:

Finally, for Team Principal, Doug Ryder, the goal is to "create a Magic Johnson of cycling." He wants to change and inspire cycling on the continent forever.

HOW?

Obviously, to achieve the lofty goals of representing Africa in the Tour de France of 2015 and onwards, a strong, concerted effort must be in development of riders in Africa, but also through leadership capable. One could imagine how this balance is tricky: on the one hand, MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung certainly cannot compete with UCI-world professional teams' budgets, but on the other hand, it becomes very difficult to inspire and maintain interest in the sport after the initial lustre has worn off without a capable team of riders. Enter Gerard Ciolek. 

Ciolek's Milano-San Remo Victory (Credit: Facebook)

Ciolek has a history of riding for some of the world's top professional teams as a domestique, but the allure of being a team leader, principle rider, and also contributing to the development of Africa was his draw to MTN-Qhubeka. And, indeed, riders with the capability of pulling out thrilling victories on the world's biggest stage, as Ciolek did at the well-renowned Milano-San Remo race in March 2013, provide the necessary leadership and the requisite talent to lead a professional team at the global level, not simply as a "charity case," a stigma that MTB-Qhubeka strives hard to avoid.

Bicycling Magazine's Tweet-headline following Ciolek's ground-breaking victory nicely summarized the importance of his victory to both African cycling and, more specifically, his MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung team, which people had perhaps not taken very seriously until this point:

Interestingly, African cycling has been even more firmly entrenched on the map of professional cycling this year (2013) due to riders who are not even on MTN-Qhubeka: Darryl Impey of Australian professional cycling team Orica-GreenEdge took over the Yellow Jersey. He made history in doing so as he was the first African to have ever worn it. Interestingly, Impey had ridden for MTN-Qhubeka in 2011 and 2012. And then, of course, Chris Froome, another African rider, won the 2013 Tour de France victory. Froome is a Kenyan born-and-raised and South African educated rider, and his victory, as much as anything MTN-Qhubeka has done, has forever changed the sport on the continent of Africa. 

Time will tell if starry-eyed African children inspired by Froome's victory will carry on in Froome's legacy and find the support to do so. However, as one can see with other nations, important to the development of a cycling culture, both of fans and competitive riders, is long-term success atop the cycling world and a commitment to leadership. An attempt to contact Cycling South Africa was made to inquire about the potential impact that a professional cycling team like MTN-Qhubeka would have on South African society, but has not yet been responded to. In any event, currently, MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung is providing that proverbial "foot in the door" for African riders. The question is whether their recruitment, development, and means of engaging youth in a culture of cycling will translate into success at the global level in professional cycling.