"African cycling is disappearing": The end of the Q36.5 Conti Team is a bad omen

The Swiss team, founded in 2022, has roots in Africa: its predecessor MTN-Qhubeka (later NTT Pro Cycling, among others) started as a fully African team. This heritage remained even as the team established itself in Switzerland, with the continental development team continuing to focus on African talent. Now, this team is coming to an end. "We are one of the few Pro Tour teams with a U23 team," says team boss Doug Ryder. "We have decided to align all our efforts in making the Pro Team successful, we struggled this year and that is our priority for now."

Kevin Campbell, manager of the continental division, has to say goodbye to the formation, a decision that doesn’t sit well with him. He is particularly concerned about the future of African talents. In an open letter titled "Dear cycling, goodbye, from Africa," published on Cyclingnews, he doesn’t hold back on his thoughts about the decision.

"Unfortunately, the decision-makers on our team’s management have decided that there is no longer a need for our development team to continue. Come 2025, Q36.5 Continental Team will be no more." Despite breakthroughs by riders like Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Campbell says African cycling has been struggling for years. "The reality is African cycling has been experiencing a steady decline in representation at the highest level of the sport over the last 10 years. In 2014 there were 23 African riders with pro contracts, the most there has ever been, and we know that next year there will probably be less than 10. African cycling has not arrived, it is leaving."

With the loss of an Africa-focused development team, it will be even harder for young talents to make their way to the cycling mecca of Europe. "Cycling is traditionally a European sport. The cycling monuments and biggest cycling events are all European. The riders need to prove themselves in Europe. Sure. So they can ‘just’ travel to any European cycling country, find a team and then all will be well. Yes, as you can imagine, the EU teams were falling over themselves to find undiscovered African riders," Campbell says with biting sarcasm.

"For the last 8 years, almost all the non-white faces appearing on the start lines of major and minor cycling events in Europe were with the same organization, our organization. The question is not: where does the next generation of African riders come from? We know where they are from. The real question is how are they going to get here, to Europe? All they are yearning for is an opportunity. Who is going to provide that opportunity now?"