The South African men's WorldTour squad has undergone a torrid few years of sponsorship. On December 9, the team looked doomed after it was denied a WorldTour license, with that fate confirmed in a recent announcement by the team, who will instead race at Continental level under the name Team Qhubeka.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm that our hopes to race as a UCI WorldTour team in 2022 are over," read the statement from Team Qhubeka. "This follows an extensive global search, during this unprecedented time, to secure the long-term future of the team."
The squad had been racing since 2008, starting as Continental side MTN Energade Road Team and making it to the WorldTour in 2016 as Dimension Data. In 2020 the team was NTT Pro Cycling and this year it started the season as Qhubeka-Assos before becoming Qhubeka-NextHash.
Over the years the outfit won five stages of the Giro d’Italia, including three this year over a blitz of five days, seven stages of the Tour de France and five stages of the Vuelta a España. In 2013 MTN-Qhubeka’s German rider Gerald Ciolek stunned the world by winning Milan-San Remo, beating Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara in the process.
The highest profile rider to wear the team’s colours was Mark Cavendish from 2016 to 2019. He claimed 12 of his 156 career victories in those four years, with the end of his stint with the team dogged by illness.
The team has been long-term partners with Qhubeka, a charity that promotes mobility in disadvantaged communities in Africa with cycling, and that connection will continue.
"Team Qhubeka is still moving forwards, our Continental team will be racing and we have other exciting projects and ideas that will see us continue to use our platform to change lives with bicycles," read the team statement. "
"Our work with the Qhubeka Charity has truly inspired us, and will continue to do so. It should be a story that inspires all of cycling and beyond, and we want you to be a part of our journey."
