Team Qhubeka-NextHash says goodbye to the UCI WorldTour | Other Sports | sports

The South African team Continue-NextHash confirmed through a statement that he will not participate in the largest men’s cycling calendar of the International Cycling Union (UCI) “to ensure the long-term future of the team” and, therefore, disappears from the elite of professional cycling.

“We are deeply saddened to confirm that our hopes of competing as a UCI WorldTour team in 2022 are over”Says the team, which has not been able to find a sponsor for this year.

“In recent days it has not been possible to specify our last possibility of continuing at that level, so a decision has been made that the WorldTour operation will cease on December 31, 2021″, They reveal. “This is an extremely disappointing time for our organization.”

Cyclists who were on board the project led by Doug Ryder they will have to defend a new jersey for next season.

The team has allowed riders such as the Spanish Carlos Barbero or the Colombian Sergio Henao to start conversations with other teams to clarify their future.

Yes, the so far the only African team on the top men’s cycling calendar Worldwide will compete in 2022 as a continental team with the aim of “returning as soon as possible” to the highest category of cycling.

The team competed since 2008 as continental MTN Energade Road Team y came to the WorldTour in 2016 as Dimension Data. In 2020 it was called NTT Pro Cycling and this year it started the season as Qhubeka-Assos before becoming Qhubeka-NextHash.

In these years, the South African squad 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 Tour of Spain.

Without the Qhubeka-NextHash, the list of teams for the highest category of world cycling remains with 18 templates, with which the first two UCI ProTeam squads featured in the 2021 world team classification, the Alpecin-Fenix ​​and Arkéa-Samsic will be invited to all UCI WorldTour events in 2022. (D)