Ryder on the storm

Doug Ryder built the Qhubeka team from a small South Africa-based squad in 2007 into a World Tour team that wore its African heritage on its sleeves.

As MTN-Qhubeka, they won a Monument – the 2013 Milan-Sanremo with Gerald Ciolek – and became the first African team to ride the Tour de France in 2015, when Steve Cummings clinched a memorable win ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet in Mende on Mandela Day.

As Team Dimension Data, they signed Mark Cavendish, who delivered a fistful of stage wins and the yellow jersey at the 2016 Tour de France.

And, with a development team operating below the World Tour outfit, Ryder offered a pathway for black African riders to break into the top level. Daniel Teklehaimanot wore the polka dot jersey in the team’s first Tour de France, but the team also gave the likes of Merhawi Kudus, Songezo Jim and Tsgabu Grmay their first opportunities to race in World Tour events.

As one of the teams with the smaller budgets in the World Tour, the Covid pandemic hit them hard. NTT Procycling lasted just one year, the Covid-disrupted 2020 season, as title sponsors, leaving Ryder scrambling to keep the team on the road. He succeeded, with a dramatically reduced budget, but when similar difficulties hit the team towards the end of 2021 he was unable to pull another rabbit from the hat.

Back in early March 2022, Lionel Birnie met Doug Ryder to talk about the South African’s journey through cycling, taking the team to the Tour de France and finally running out of road.

In part one, we go back to last March and Lionel’s meeting with Doug in a hotel lounge in Weybridge, Surrey. At the time he was working hard in the background to build a new team

Then in part two, we bring the story right up to date as Ryder prepares to return with a new team, Q36.5 Pro Cycling.

Series: Friends of the Podcast 2022
Part one, run time: 1hr 16mins
Part two, run time: 52mins
Producer: Adam Bowie