Team Dimension Data are currently in Cape Town on training camp. Strategies, schedules and logistics for 2017 are no doubt foremost on the agenda as are media engagements, meet-the-riders sessions and publicising the Qhubeka project. It may be November but next season has effectively begun for Africa’s Team, and the rest of the World Tour for that matter.
Interestingly, the recently announced 2017 line up consists of four Australians. Ben ‘O Connor, Mark Renshaw, Nathan Haas and new-signing Lachlan Morton make up the contingent from Down Under, which can only be a good thing. Australian riders are revered for their toughness and humour and, in the case of Haas and Morton, interesting personal projects. But the fact that four Aussie cyclists are in the Mother City as part of a top flight pro team indicates the cyclic nature of the sport and of life in general. Why? Because it is almost twenty years since the first Antipodean pro-team graced our shores, and not far from The Cullinan.
Look closely at the header image and Table Mountain provides the backdrop to the Team ZVVZ-Giant-AIS 1997 photo shoot. Morphed out of the successful Australian Institute of Sport setup, the squad’s merger with a small Czech team resulted in a roster that could be described as both eclectic (nationalities) and embryonic (future talent). Heiko Salzwedel and Brian Stephens were brought in as the sporting directors and the squad made its presence felt in February’s Tour de Langkawi, with one Jens Voigt taking second on GC. Look a little further down the classification and South Africa’s Andrew McLean is present in sixth.
It would only be a few weeks before McLean and ZVVZ would meet again, this time in Cape Town for the now-defunct Giro del Capo. Mighty Mouse, as McLean was known, might have been in the twilight of his pro career but was still strong enough to outlast the onslaught of Paul Brosnan and current Orica-Bike Exchange DS Matt White, sealing overall victory on the slopes of Lion’s Head. Yes, The Glen has had numerous future cycling luminaries negotiate its bends. Interestingly, Salzwedel had offered McLean’s Langkawi teammate Douglas Ryder a spot on the fledgling outfit of that year, which the Capetonian turned down in order to start his own team.
Ah yes, the cycle of life.
And cycling.
