The team is done and finished: 24 riders for the Q36.5, the new Swiss formation, a direct offshoot of Qhubeka. Douglas Ryder completed and presented to the press his team with which he aims to return to the WorldTour as soon as possible effectively closing the parenthesis that opened in 2021 with the exit of the South African team.
The manager has on his hands a professional team that in many ways has already made a further leap in quality. In fact, if you look closely, only 5 teams have a larger roster and they are all those who have just been relegated from the World Tour or are in any case in that orbit, with participation in the main races already assured. Ryder wanted a broad lineup and has good reasons for that..
«We started from a consideration – explains the South African manager – a team like ours has something like 200 days of racing to face and considering each individual rider we have to consider a base of 55 days of racing. 24 riders seems like the perfect number to properly prepare for each event, giving everyone adequate recovery time. We reached this conclusion after years of analyzing the numbers and behavior of professional and continental teams. 24 is the right number, with 6 new pros and many young players to develop».
There's only one African rider on the professional team, while there are five on the continental team. Would you have liked to have more?
Well, there aren't many at that level available right now who are good enough. We have our own under-23 team based in Lucca, managed by Daniel and Kevin. Campbell where to grow new talent, so we still have an African interest and focus. There is only one African rider who has already shown himself to be mature enough for the pro team., the Ethiopian AbrehaWe were hoping to bring more, but we just didn't have any and felt they were ready. We need riders who can be strong and focused on collecting UCI points and help us grow to aim for promotion to the top division in three years.
What is the situation of African cycling today?
It's really good. Of course, finding funding in Africa is not easy, even with the World Cup in Rwanda in 2025Hopefully, as we get closer, there will be more investment and more teams and more national teams that will get some funding to be able to grow as a team. This year it will be really nice to be back racing. Tour of Rwanda and see the quality of the African riders, because It will potentially also give us the opportunity to bring some of them into our teamOverall growth is going well, but it's not yet where it should be in terms of sponsor support and investment.
Your country has produced excellent riders like Meintjes and Impey. How's South African cycling doing today?
South African cycling is strong and has been strong. You mentioned riders who were all part of our team in the past and have now moved on to other teams. But Road cycling is struggling a bit in South Africa due to the safety aspectMountain biking is growing incredibly. We have Alan Hatherly ranked among the top ten in the world in mountain biking and a global event like the Cape EpicIt's much safer here to be off the roads for training and racing. So road cycling has taken a hit, and there aren't enough events anymore. Mountain biking is growing tremendously, so hopefully road cycling will catch up as the years go by. It still has strong riders, but not as many as it should. I mean, Eritrea has more riders than South Africa at the moment.
Given the way it was built, is your team more for classics or stage races?
We have a strong balance, I think, between classics specialists and stage race riders like hagen e Brambilla. We have Muskets as a sprinter and Devriendt, I think that We have a team built, prepared and ready for all types of racing, from classics to climbs to stage races to Grand ToursSo we're excited to see what we can do this year. We've had some major invitations, and RCS has even given us a spot. So we're looking forward to the Classics and the stage races, and we hope to do a Grand Tour soon.
There are four sporting directors on the team. Do you still plan to follow many races directly with the team?
Yes, I'll be going to the most important races. I'll definitely be there at the Classics to support the team. But we have five sports directors, which is quite good and should be enough to manage a double schedule throughout the season this year.
I saw that you're starting the Saudi Tour on January 30th. How are you looking forward to the start: excitement, enthusiasm, fear?
I mean, it's a dream come true. We were talking about it with the riders to say that this is a new projectAnd the day they will pin the numbers on the shirt for the first match of this new team, they should feel incredibly proud to be part of the resurrection of this team that is recycling itself with its fantastic partners and its incredible values. So it will be that first day when they race and we can see on TV that the team is in the peloton once again, it will be a magical moment for me.
