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Team MTN-Qhubeka to the Vuelta 2014

The pride of African cycling, Team MTN Qhubeka p/b Samsung, continues to capture the imagination of the international cycling world in 2014. Hot on the heels of completing a fantastic debut season on the international cycling stage in 2013, Africa’s first professional-continental cycling team will participate in the 2014 Vuelta a España, the 69th edition of Spain’s most prestigious race for the first time. Team MTN Qhubeka p/b Samsung will join 21 other teams at the Vuelta, which will take place from Saturday 23 August to Sunday 14 September 2014, and will cover a total distance of 3181 kilometers over 21 stages. MTN SA Chief Marketing Officer Brian Gouldie heaped praise on the team: “As proud sponsors of Team MTN-Qhubeka, it is with great pride and jubilation to see the team secure a berth at the Vuelta a Espana. To witness the first African cycling team accepted to participate in such a big, international cycling event is testament to the capability of the team and the talent among the riders. Hard work has paid off in only the second year of this exciting team cycling on the international arena. We wish everyone at Team MTN-Qhubeka well for the Vuelta and ...

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MTN-Qhubeka return to 3 Days of De Panne

After a very busy opening week for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung at the Belgian classics, racing continues when the team start the 3 Days of De Panne on Tuesday. The 3 day, 4 stage Belgian tour is a prestigious race that sets the tone for another big week of Belgian racing with the Ronde van Vlaanderen also being on Sunday. 3 Days of De Panne always attracts a stellar field as riders look to be in peak condition ahead of the weekends Belgian monument by using the ‘DDDP’ to sharpen the race legs. Riders like Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) will be on the start line, thus highlighting the calibre of rider on display. After a tough opening week of spring classics with numerous crashes, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will rest riders like Gerald Ciolek and Ignatas Konovalovas for DDDP, allowing an almost full compliment of African riders the chance to start the Belgian tour. Martin Reimer and Jay Thomson headline the team with support from Ferekalsi Debesay, Bradley Potgieter, Youcef Reguigui, Songezo Jim, Johann van Zyl and Dennis van Niekerk.   Rider – Jay Thomson  “De Panne is another interesting Belgium race where the ...

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MTN-Qhubeka hope for Vuelta selection

MTN-Qhubeka hopes to become Africa’s first professional team to ride in a grand tour. The South African squad wants to be awarded one of the four Vuelta a España wildcard invitations on April 2, when the race organizer announces the 22-team field. Article by Gregor Brown, Velonews.com  “We are confident,” team manager Doug Ryder told VeloNews. “With the amount of public sentiment around us not getting into the Giro d’Italia, it opened the eyes to other event organizers.” Ryder told VeloNews that Vuelta organizer Unipublic should announce the teams April 2. As a UCI WorldTour race, the 18 first division ProTeams will automatically receive invitations. It reserves four other spots for second division UCI Pro Continental teams like MTN. The South African outfit is competing against Caja Rural, Cofidis, NetApp-Endura, IAM Cycling, UnitedHealthcare, and the other second division teams that applied to race. “Spots will likely go to Caja Rural and Cofidis,” Ryder said. “Caja Rural sponsors the race and is a Spanish team. Cofidis also sponsors the race. Our rivals are IAM Cycling and NetApp. IAM is in every grand tour and might as well be a WorldTour team. NetApp races the Tour. Does it have enough depth to ride two grand tours?” ...

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MTN-Qhubeka to the Ronde van Vlaanderen

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It was officially announced late on Tuesday evening that Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will race the Ronde van Vlaanderen. After participating in the Milano-Sanremo and Il Lombardia last season

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Triathlon spring training camp at Mallorca

Rider diary, by Matthias Knossalla – For my first training camp this year I decided to travel to the beautiful island of Mallorca. I always prefer staying in the north of Mallorca, because you find everything you need there. The Tramuntana mountains for example are only 20 kilometers away. One of my season highlights will be the Ironman Mallorca in September, so staying in Can Picafort (only 10 minutes away from the swim start) was a logical decision. Triathlon training camps are something special, if you have chosen a hotel which is well known for its good sporting facilities: Countless athletes in “Finisher Shirts” everywhere. You can even spot them at dinner. Please don’t wear them all the time! At most days we started our training at 07:00 a.m. with a short swim session, followed by a quick shower and the traditional sprint to the breakfast table. Being first is a huge honor. If you train 35 hours a week, it is important to get in all the calories you need. So try to maximize the total amount of calories. In the first three days we were riding on flat terrain in endurance pace at 230-240 watts. Later that week we included some threshold ...

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