Despite the success of Biniam Girmay, Q36.5 owner blames "lack of quality" as a reason to feature 0 African riders in its lineup

Development of African cycling seems to be stuck on a dead-end trajectory. At the very least according to managers of Q36.5 Pro Cycling. And that's where there won't be a single African cyclist in the structure of the team whose purpose used to lie in promotion of the continent's cycling. Despite the incredible success story of Biniam Girmay, first African World Championships in Rwanda in 2025 and ever-strong interest in Africa's talent pool.

"We had a lot of African riders in our team," said team owner Doug Ryder to Cycling Weekly. "We’ve opened the door for African cycling. Biniam Girmay was 13 when we took Daniel Teklehaimanot to the Tour de France, a race that opened the door in his eyes to the possibilities of what cycling can do, a sport that he could potentially be successful in. We did a lot in that sense."

Pressed on why his team no longer has any African riders, he said: "There’s just a lack of quality at the moment, sadly. As you know we’ve got big sponsors behind us and the sport has changed, it’s about business. It’s not about charity."

What has changed so drastically since, say, ten years ago? "At the time we could create massive opportunities for riders just because the sport was different then. If I started an African team today would it be successful? No. Would people care? Would they? It’s about points and it’s about rankings."

Heading into 2025, another blow came as Q36.5 Continental Team - a development structure linked to the PRT formation of Doug Ryder - was disbanded. Another opportunity for young African talents gone.

"We started our African development team, registering as a continental team in 2016," wrote team’s manager Kevin Campbell in an open letter via Global Peloton substack in October. "We soon realised, though, that cycling actually doesn’t care. Yes, some rider stories make for great marketing opportunities, some riders provide great photo opportunities, but the game, the sport, the business of cycling doesn’t care. A rider has to perform!"