Doug Ryder on Q36.5's plan for African Development
South African talks about his pathway for African talent, Q36.5 Conti and bringing on Adrien Niyonshuti + a race round up
When Doug Ryder announced towards the end of 2022 that he was launching a new team, hope was revived that African cyclists may have an improved pathway to the professional peloton, the sort that was expected at the height of the Qhubeka era. When only one African rider was signed to the ProTeam for 2023, that hope became somewhat hazy.
“Africa is still my passion, my heart’s there, of course,” Ryder told me when I interviewed him a few weeks ago for Cycling News. But it’s unclear to see how this marries up with Q36.5 Pro Cycling’s 2023 transfer strategy. Talented Africans such as Kent Main, Dawit Yemane and Natnael Berhane were left to ply their trade at continental level or lower.
With his new team up and running, Ryder has become more cautious of signing riders based on their country of birth. The team’s main aim is to achieve World Tour status in 2026. The South African has noticed that cycling has changed since the Qhubeka days.
“We’re not a jobs-for-pals team, you know? The sport has become too hard. It's a business now. It's become too hard to have riders from different countries in the team just to ride around in this world of cycling, as we did in the beginning when it was unique and it was different, and points didn't mean anything. Now your ranking [matters], which is quite tough for a team that wants to make a difference and create opportunities for an emerging market,” Ryder said.
It’s clear that Q36.5 has less of a strategic focus to develop African cycling than Qhubeka did. The goal is to move up the ranks, to become one of the biggest teams in the world. Ryder is keen to point out that Africa can be part of that, but not at the expense of the main aim. They are still involved in African development, just on a lower profile.
“We will still support African cycling when riders are good enough to be on the team.
“Our Continental team is still there. So we have African riders there. If you look at the African riders in the pro tour today, 90% came through our structure, other than Biniam Girmay, but he was 13 when Daniel [Teklehaimanot] wore the [Polka Dot] jersey in the Tour de France, so it was his eye opener and created that drive, I guess.
“It's still a big focus for us, as is Colombia, but Africa is big, especially with the World Championships in 2025. We still support Qhubeka, you've got the Athletic Cycling Foundation trust now in Pretoria in South Africa. We've got kids on bikes that are being educated and in school and they're racing mountain bike races, so we're doing actually a lot.”
Ryder is hoping to create a clear pathway to the ProTeam for young African talents, presumably closing the door to older riders despite established professionals Tsgabu Grmay, Merhawi Kudus and Amanuel Gebreigzabhier currently without a home for 2024.
The team still have two unconfirmed spots left for next season, but Ryder told me that it’s unlikely that these will be filled by African riders. However, he will look to give the best riders from the Continental team opportunities at bigger races.
“Not next year. They're still too young. We've got Merhawi Kudus’ brother in our team. We've got Hamza [Amari], but they're like 19, 20 so they need another year in the under-23 category.
“But the nice thing about the structure between a ProTeam and a Continental team, if you have the same paying agent which we do of course, is that we can bring them up at anytime. So these guys have the opportunity to come into the ProTeam at any time we need them. So that's quite positive for them and a nice opportunity.
“We have the same performance meetings with the Continental team as with our ProTeam. So our two teams are inextricably linked, so we know exactly what the left hand and the right hand is doing.
“It is also attracting some nice talent from all over the world. I'm getting 60 to 70 CVs a week of riders wanting to join the U23 team because they can see it as a nice step into this level, which is exciting.”
The Continental team will get another boost next season with the appointment of an African cycling legend to support the riders.
“We’ve got Adrien Niyonshuti working with us now. He of course, was with us for 10 years…He's working a huge amount with African Federations - Benin through Team Africa Rising - and Rwanda, of course. So he's going to be a part of our coaching and performance team going forward, to try and also uncover the best talent into our team.”
Paid-subscribers received a full podcast version of this interview earlier in the week. If you want to hear it, add a paid subscription.
My Opinion
I think Ryder has got an incredibly difficult job and perhaps gets unfairly called out from time to time. Pro cycling always comes down to the money. His sponsors want to be World Tour, so that is always going to be the main goal.
African cycling is also in a different place compared to the early days of Qhubeka. In 2023, African riders are signed to five different World Tour teams and four ProTeams. The development work no longer hangs on one team, and that is a good thing. It is not solely Ryder’s responsibility to develop African cycling at the top level.
Having said that, I was personally disappointed when only Negasi Abreha was signed to Q36.5’s ProTeam in 2023. The aforementioned Main, Yemane and Berhane, among others, had the quality to ride for the team. I do hope that they can find a spot in 2024 for Kudus, Grmay or Gebreigzabhier.
Abreha has struggled a bit this year. 2022 saw him achieve solid GC results at Giro Next Gen and the Adriatica Ionica Race. He has suffered this year from racing a calendar which was too tough. Some riders respond well to this and learn, some just get their heads kicked in. Let’s hope Abreha has learned from his racing this year.
The Continental team has developed well this season, with three African r21-year-olds standing out as stars of the future: Hamza Amari (ALG), Travis Stedman (SA) and Nahom Zerai (ERI). Niyonshuti supporting in 2024 can only be a further benefit to them.
The strategy is there; identify talent, sign them to the Conti team, the best ones step up. It’s limited in its reach, but deep in terms of the personal development of the six Africans on the Continental team.
The Q36.5 project is, I think, overall a positive one for African cycling.
I’d be fascinated to know what you think.
Race Round Up
Who said the season was over? There are still a couple of weeks left.
Men’s Tour of Guangxi
As you’d expect, the World Tour teams dominated the Tour Guangxi - yet another World Tour stage win for Jumbo-Visma - but the Chinese riders performed better than expected.
With their best rider, Xianjing Lyu, focussing on his attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games in the XCO through the Asian Continental Championships in India, it was down to national champion Binyan Ma to lead the team. Ma put in a great performance on stage two, sprinting to 8th place with virtually no support.
There was also a good ride from young Haoyu Su on stage 5. He looked quite strong as part of the break of the day.
Tour of Chonming Island and Women’s Tour of Guangxi
The women’s races in China were shrouded in the disappointing lack of TV coverage. It’s possible that at least the Tour of Guangxi may lose its World Tour status as a result.
The Chinese riders surprised again in these races. 22-year-old Xin Tang was fantastic all week. She won the young riders classification and placed sixth on stage two of Chonming Island and followed that up by finishing fifth at the Tour of Guangxi.
Luyao Zeng was equally impressive as she took top-10s in all three Chonming Island stages.
Campeonato del Caribe
The Caribbean Champs are growing in level every year. The numbers of the hosts, Guadeloupe, really showed in the road races. They were won by local riders Damien Urcel and Evelyn Briche. They defeated European based riders such as Red Walters and Llori Sharpe.
The TT’s were dominated by Bermuda, a nation with a growing stable of talent. Conor White led home a 1-2-3 in the men’s TT ahead of Kaden Hopkins and Nicolas Narraway. Gabriella Arnold won the women’s race.
Vuelta Costa Rica
There was a race clean sweep in Costa Rica for former Bizkaia-Durango rider Lilibeth Chacón.
The Venezuelan won all four stages, points, mountain and overall classifications.
Trans-Himalaya Cycling Race
Back in China again (I think there is more racing in China now than ever before) and this brand new 2.2 race sounded crazy. You think the Stelvio is an altitude climb? This race in Tibet topped-out at over 4000 meters above sea-level. Incredible.
It was won by a rider who comes from altitude, Carlos Torres of Venezuela. China had a 1-2-3 on the final stage with Ruidong Wang, Zhihui Jiang and Boan Li.
Coming up, there are still a few UCI races of the year left with the Tour du Faso, Pan-American Games, Hong Kong Cyclothon and and Vuelta Femenina Ecuador in the next couple of weeks.
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All- African ..all-anywhere teams are feel good but wasted efforts that only end up serving as fodder for the nay sayers. Althetes from africa need the open doors to walk thru, but there is much more to cyclinging than opportunity. Road racing is a European sport..all else is a model of Europe..and has become hard nosed business. Q36.5 is doing it properly, but perhaps the question isn’t whether Africans can thrive in the euro peleton, but whether it’s misplaced effort striving to join a scene that increasingly looks simply money machine with athletes as smurfs and pawns