Cycling is about passion, commitment, and teamwork. It’s about having the confidence to take on challenges. And it is about knowing that there are people around to rely on. Put all that together and it’s easy to see why Deloitte Consulting LLP has become a key sponsor of Ryder Cycling. Ryder Cycling owns and manages the current Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung team soon to be called Team Dimension Data in 2016, Africa’s only UCI Professional Continental Cycling Team.
The team made history this year as the first African registered cycling team to compete in the Tour de France. The team’s tremendous successes in the race included:
- Wearing the prestigious King of the Mountain jersey for four days on the shoulders of Eritrean rider, Daniel Teklehaimanot – the first African rider to do so
- Stephen Cummings winning the 14th stage on Mandela Day
- Team finishing in fifth place overall in the Team competition
- Raising over 4,000 bicycles in their #BicyclesChangeLives campaign
Douglas Ryder, Team Principal
“Deloitte is extremely proud to become a key sponsor of Africa’s leading cycling team, which will be known as Team Dimension Data from 2016 onwards,” said Jim Moffatt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “The team strives for operational and professional excellence. Be the best. Innovate to train harder. Push the limits and set new goals. All the while, they have an equally important underlying goal to make an impact in their community. The example they set, on and off the bike, is strong and admirable for everyone to follow. Best of all, Deloitte and the team share a common vision — striving for professional excellence, while making a social impact.”
In rural regions of Africa, many students face the challenge of having to travel significant distances when trying to get to school. Of the eleven million students who walk to school in South Africa, half a million students walk more than one hour each way. Along with the many other challenges these students face, distance is a barrier that can be eliminated with the simple solution of a bicycle. Through#BicyclesChangeLives, the Team is providing bicycles to students, giving them the tools to access education and to make their own path in life.
Impressed, two quality sponsors, seems like Doug Ryder has made significant inroads into the corporate world by signing up these two, both are global concerns if one regards Dimension Data as part of the NTT Group of Japan.
There was a concern that with the loss of MTN the upward trajectory might take a dip, if anything it seems these two associations increase the weight of the team in a global sense.
(as an aside check out the vascularity of Teklahamainot and how were those Eritrean fans in Richmond yesterday, soon there will be a corner of them on Alp du heuz to rival the Dutch in noise)