Team Qhubeka NextHash (www.TeamQhubeka.com) will once again celebrate global icon Nelson Mandela on 18 July at the Tour de France, and in doing so promote a message of peace and harmony across the world.
Team Qhubeka NextHash has a deep connection with Mandela Day - the birth date of the former South African president – as it won its first-ever Tour de France stage on the day in 2015 with Steve Cummings' famous victory in Mende. While our purpose in effecting positive change through bicycles truly shows that sport has the power to change the world, an ideal that Mandela espoused.
Now appearing at the race for a seventh time, as in previous years, a number of our team elements will be changed to orange; the colour of piece and harmony, in recognition of this special occasion.
This will include our Ekoi helmets, KMC chains, special edition Tacx bottles, Ceramicspeed oversized pulley wheel system, Selle Italia handlebar tape, Garmin head unit cover and unique Hunt wheels.
Douglas Ryder - Team Principal
Orange is the colour of Mandela Day, and it’s also the colour of harmony. The day means a lot to us as South Africans, as Africans, the world and particularly our team.
We won our first Tour de France stage in our first Tour de France on Mandela Day, and so it is the most incredibly special day for us. So at this year’s Tour de France, racing on the most famous road in cycling, the Champs Elysees, in the sport’s most famous event, on his birthday, is going to be absolutely brilliant.
Mandela is known for his kindness, compassion and forgiveness; and he loved sport and connecting people through it and its power to change the world in a way that nobody else could. That’s the most beautiful thing about Mandela Day.
With the theme of the day being orange we’ve once again put some detail onto our bikes that reflect this, and I want thank all of our partners for sharing in this special moment.
To live in harmony is to accept yourself and others as they are, having the strength to follow your dreams and seeing the positive aspects in any situation.
I think where humanity is suffering today it’s even more relevant and particularly in South Africa which is facing major difficulties. That’s the beautuful thing about the detail that we’ve put on the bikes this year to remind us that we need to live in harmony together, and the colour orange gives us that motivation.
The beautiful thing is that this day always falls during the Tour de France and this year as a result of the Olympic Games it just happens to fall on the final stage. How beautiful is that?
If you looked at Steve that day as he put his hand up – the symbol of the Qhubeka Charity – which speaks to everything that we’re about as a team. Young people put their hands up for bicycles for social mobility and for that to happen on that day was just absolutely epic, that’s why this day is just so special to us as a team.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Team Qhubeka NextHash.Media Contact:
Jean Smyth (Head of Communications)
Email: jean@ryder.co.za
Mobile: +27 63 470 1710 or +31 625 739 033
About Team Qhubeka NextHash:
Team Qhubeka NextHash is a purpose-led, high-performance team, fighting to win on the world's biggest stage, to inspire hope and create opportunity. Founded in 2007, Team Qhubeka NextHash (formerly NTT Pro Cycling) became the first-ever African cycling team to gain a UCI WorldTour license, in 2016.
We achieved our first major win in 2013 when Gerald Ciolek won Milan-San Remo, one of the five Monuments of cycling. We have competed in six Tour de France’s and notched up 7 stage wins, with Mark Cavendish wearing the coveted Yellow Jersey at the 2016 Tour de France.
We are a multicultural, diverse team with bases in South Africa, the Netherlands and Italy. There are 19 nationalities represented across our World Tour and continental feeder team rosters. Our focus on developing African cycling has resulted in more than 55 riders from the African continent be given the opportunity to race on the world stage, since the team's inception.
We race to help people to move forward with bicycles through our relationship with Qhubeka Charity. Through our work with Qhubeka, we have contributed to the distribution of over 30 000 bicycles in communities in South Africa.
About Qhubeka:
Qhubeka is a charity that moves people forward with bicycles. People earn bicycles through our programmes, improving their access to schools, clinics and jobs.
A bicycle is a tool that helps people to travel faster and further, and to carry more. In the face of extreme and persistent poverty, bicycles can change lives by helping to address socioeconomic challenges at the most basic level – helping people to get where they need to go.
All images attached to the press release can be used with the respective image credit in combination to this release.
© Press Release 2021
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