The 2015 edition of the legendary Tour de France race begins this weekend and this year history will be made thanks to South African-based Team MTN Qhubeka, who will become the first African team to feature in the prestigious race.
Founded in 2007, Qhubeka gained status as a continental team in 2008, where it remained until the end of 2012 when it expressed to the UCI its interest in acquiring its Professional Continental licence for the 2013 season.
In 2014, Qhubeka received its first Grand Tour wildcard when they were invited to compete in the 2014 Vuelta a Espana, an invite they used to firmly make their mark on the world tour and gain the respect and admiration of professionals and fans worldwide.
2014 also saw the signing of highly respected riders in the sport, a boost that Qhubeka is already benefitting from. Norwegian great Edvald Boasson Hagen signed on in August 2014 with a 2-year contract while American Tyler Farrar and Australian born Matthew Goss had both signed on for the 2015 season.
Qhubeka have made sure that nobody will question their inclusion to the Tour, despite selecting the youngest rider in the tour this year, 21 year-old Eritrean rider Merhawi Kudus, with multiple wins and achievements in the months leading up to the Grand Tour.
Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot won their first grand tour jersey, taking the King of the Mountains in the 2015 Criterium du Dauphine. Boasson Hagan snapped up both the Norwegian time trial championship and road race championship title while Eritrean rider Natnael Berhane won his country’s road race and Teklehaimanot the TT title.
In the lead up to the tour, Qhubeka recently announced a major boost to their team with Dimension Data, the Official Technology Partner for ASO (the owners of the Tour de France) becoming a sponsor on a multi-year contract that will give them a boost in technological developments they hope will attract more people to take an interest in the sport.
Dimension Data will give commentators and viewers around the world this Tour de France the opportunity to track all 198 riders in the 22 teams, follow their progress in each stage and track the speed of the rider as well as their position in relation to other cyclists. This will all be accessible through a live tracking website.
Now the plucky team from Africa is riding with the big guns with expectations running high thanks to their raw talent, gutsy determination and impressive performances in their very short history so far.
MTN Qhubeka TdF 2015 Team
Tylar Farrar
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Steve Cummings
Serge Pauwels
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Louis Meintjes
Jacques Janse van Rensburg
Merhawi Kudus
