Team aims to continue African rider development with major brand
Trek Bicycle yesterday announced a new partnership with the African continental cycling team MTN-Qhubeka that will see the team ride Trek bicycles from next year. The team consists of a men and women’s road team, mountain bike team and BMX.
“As a team we strive for perfection in everything that we do and to have a bicycle company that is a global leader in the design and manufacture of bicycles to partner with us is something incredibly special,” Team Principal, Doug Ryder told VeloNation.
“Trek is a perfect partner for our MTN Qhubeka powered by World Bicycle Relief team as their mission is to help the world use the bicycle as a simple solution to complex problems and that is what we are promoting in South Africa and Africa through Qhubeka.”
The team has had major success since its inception and has developed successful riders such as Daryl Impey who currently rides for Team NetApp and Jay Thomson who is joining UnitedHealthcare next season. Rwandan national champion Adrien Niyonshuti currently forms part of the set up as the team continues to develop riders from the African continent.
“We are in the business of professional cycling and the business involves sponsoring professional cyclists at the highest level of the sport for maximum sponsor return. We have a High Performance Team Culture across a UCI Road Team, UCI MTB Team, women’s road team and BMX. Our goal is to maintain our position as Africa’s number one cycling team with a vision to get to the highest level of the sport with a black African rider,” added Ryder.
With Trek onboard, the team will look to increase its already vast international racing program. This year MTN Qhubeka won numerous stages in the Tour du Maroc and also enjoyed European racing, lining up in the Delta Tour Zeeland in Holland. Its best placed rider was 22 year old Reinardt janse van Rensburg who finished in fourteenth place overall. The team will be rounding out this season by racing the Herald Sun Tour in Australia next month.
“In 2011 our teams will have raced 90 international race days and 150 local race days across all disciplines with the major focus this year being our UCI Continental men’s road team. The men’s road team will end the year with 74 international days of racing and that trend will continue into the future,” Ryder said.
The road team will ride the Trek Madone that finished in second and third place in this year’s Tour de France while the mountain bike team will get to enjoy the full suspension 29er Trek Superfly 100 Pro and Superfly hardtail.
“The team represents so much more than just racing,” said Trek Race Department Director Scott Daubert. “We’re excited to get to work with this special group of athletes and help them reach new heights on the road and trail while spreading their message to a wider audience.”
Ryder also told VeloNation there would be exciting announcements in the coming weeks regarding the roster for next year and the team’s plans to go to a higher level in the future.