With Milan-San Remo winner Gerald Ciolek, Linus Gerdemann, Martin Reimer and Andreas Stauff, there are four Germans in the squad of the South African ProConti racing team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung. The team, headed by sporting director Jens Zemke and manager Douglas Ryder, will start the coming season with a total of 25 drivers. The big goal is the Giro d'Italia, for which one hopes for an invitation.
“Of all the ProConti teams, that was us, with the second most victories. It's a remarkable achievement, especially given that it was our first year in this division.", Ryder said euphorically during the team presentation in Johannesburg.
In order to achieve the goal of the Tour of Italy, the team has strengthened itself. Gerdemann and South African John-Lee Augustyn are certainly the best-known signings. What is exciting is that both were without a contract in the 2013 season – although teams like RadioShack-Leopard and Sky respectively belong to their former employers and their palmarès are quite considerable – and are now particularly hot for racing. However, while Gerdemann was able to keep fit without injury, Augustyn had to survive the consequences of a hip operation.
Also new to the team is the Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot, who comes from the WorldTour team Orica-GreenEdge and who, together with Gerdemann and Augustyn, will lead the tour group. Teklehaimanot joins the team as reigning African champions.
//MTN-Qhubeka 2014
Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwanda), Andreas Stauff (Germany), Bradley Potgieter (South Africa), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eritrea), Dennis van Niekerk (South Africa), Ferekalsi Debesay (Eritrea), Gerald Ciolek (Germany), Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania), Jaco Venter (South Africa)
Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA), Jani Tewelde (Eritrea), Jay Thomson (South Africa), Johann van Zyl (South Africa), John-Lee Augustyn (South Africa), Kristian Sbaragli (Italy), Linus Gerdemann (Germany), Louis Meintjes ( South Africa), Martin Reimer (Germany), Martin Wesemann (South Africa), Merhawi Kudus (Eritrea), Meron Russom (Eritrea), Sergio Pardilla (Spain), Songezo Jim (South Africa), Tsgabu Grmay (Ethiopia), Youcef Reguigui (Algeria)