End of the road for Qhubeka-NextHash
South African team folds after 15 years
Photo by:
Sirotti
According to Cyclingnews and several other media outlets, South Africa’s Qhubeka-NextHash had given up looking for a new sponsor and will fold after 15 years. On December 9, the team looked doomed after it was denied a WorldTour license.
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-Next Hash.
Over the years the outfit won five stages of the Giro d’Italia, including three this May in 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 most famous athlete 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.
Qhubeka’s 2021 roster has been scrambling to find new rides, with 12 riders including Domenico Pozzovivo and 2017 Paris-Nice champion Sergio Henao still without teams and 2022 looming.
