My passion for cycling began back in 1983, when I was 12 and my uncle Phyl took me to watch a British team ride in a tour of South Africa. I was captivated – and when he bought me an aluminium Alan bike from that team I was hooked.
By the time I was 13, I was going for hour-long rides before school, because I was so committed to cycling; nothing else mattered. A dozen years later, at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, I was in the road race with the likes of Lance Armstrong and Miguel Induráin.
I finished a lowly 61st – the first African, by some distance – but the whole Olympic experience was eye-opening. I became good friends with Josia Thugwane, who won gold in the men’s marathon; together we wondered if South Africa’s talent for producing runners couldn’t be transferred to cycling.
A year later, I set up a South African team, Ryder Cycling – serving as national captain from 1993 until 2002 – but when MTN-Qhubeka, which I founded in 2007, made the team list for the Tour de France, as a wildcard, I nearly passed out. That broke new ground for Africa when it happened last year. I knew being part of the Tour had the potential to make bikes cool in Africa and ignite a movement across the continent.
With the Tour came exposure, which helped secure funding for both the team and the Qhubeka charity. Qhubeka – a word that means to “progress, to move forward” in the Nguni language of Zulu – provides no-frills “Buffalo Bikes” to children in return for their work on sustainable projects, for example planting 100 trees or recycling 1,500kg of waste. Cycling the reasonably long distances to school helps children arrive refreshed and ready to learn.
When Steve Cummings secured our first stage win on Nelson Mandela Day, on July 18, it was fairytale stuff. Donations for Qhubeka spiked dramatically and African interest in cycling has increased exponentially since; people have had their eyes opened to the greatest event in the world.
Attitudes are changing. There is a realisation that cycling has great health and wellness benefits, and Johannesburg already has established cycle lanes for commuters.
We are on a roll, and grateful that Nederburg Wines has increased its sponsorship deal with us. Being a huge South African brand, dating back to 1791, makes it the perfect partner.
Earlier this year the team – now Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka – was granted a UCI World Tour licence for the 2016 season. That means we’re guaranteed top races all year.
It also put us in a position to attract the greatest sprinter in cycling: Mark Cavendish, winner of 26 Tour de France stages. With Mark as mentor I’m confident we’ll see a black African rider on the podium of a Grand Tour event.
The ultimate dream, though, is for one of our grass-roots riders, who started on the Buffalo Bikes, to reach that peak. That would be the Holy Grail for me – and I won’t stop until we, as a continent, achieve that.
