Several weeks after its superb and unexpected victory in Milan-Sanremo, the MTN Qhubeka team has released the first episode of a documentary into the squad.
Over eighteen minutes in length, the video traces the team’s participation in Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo, its two first WorldTour events.
It features the thoughts of team principal Douglas Ryder, directeur sportif Jens Zemke, European Tour manager Brent Copeland and riders such as Sanremo winner Gerald Ciolek and Songezo Jim, the first black South African to ride the race.
Ryder explains the team balance between African and European riders and how they are further divided up into Classics and stage race riding. He also speaks about the need for international pros to help mentor those from the African continent, sharing their experience and helping bring the team to the point where the African riders are making a consistent impression on the results.
Taking the view through the team’s progress in Tirreno-Adriatico, a race afflicted by tough weather conditions, it shows how MTN Qhubeka built towards Milan-Sanremo, honing form and also working on their cooperation together.
Milan-Sanremo starts in overcast but tolerable conditions, but rapidly degenerates to freezing, icy weather. This imposes an additional, unexpected difficulty on the riders in what is the longest of the Classics. However the team responds admirably by scooping an unexpected and historic win via Ciolek.
The former world under 23 champion outsprinted Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard) to the line in Sanremo, scooping the biggest result of his career and also ensuring a huge boost for the team.
Ciolek and the team’s jubilation is motivating to see, showing the pure joy of a big win. Triumphing over the bigger teams is a significant achievement, and a huge moment for the new Pro Continental setup. It also fully justified the wildcards it was given to those two RCS Sport events, boosting its prospects for future invites.