Tokyo,
Japan – November 2019 – NTT Pro Cycling, a UCI WorldTour cycling team based in
South Africa, unveiled its team for the 2020 season as it rebrands from Team
Dimension Data. The announcement, made at the home of NTT in Tokyo, was
accompanied by a jersey reveal and insights into the technology solutions
driving rider recruitment and race strategy within the team.
The new
kit will grace the WorldTour and the sport’s biggest races throughout 2020.
It’s a brand that riders will wear with immense pride, while at the same time
continuing to showcase the impact that bicycles have in changing lives through
NTT Pro Cycling’s work with Qhubeka, which
has recently distributed its 100,000th bike.
The
team for 2020 features nine exciting new riders, to supplement the current pool
of talent as the team looks to race with a goal of establishing itself among
the top ten teams in the world.
The
2020 line-up includes:
|
|
First Name
|
Surname
|
Country
|
Age
|
|
|
1
|
Carlos
|
Barbero
|
ESP
|
28
|
|
|
2
|
Samuele
|
Battistella
|
ITA
|
20
|
|
|
3
|
Edvald
|
Boasson Hagen
|
NOR
|
32
|
|
|
4
|
Victor
|
Campenaerts
|
BEL
|
28
|
|
|
5
|
Stefan
|
de Bod
|
RSA
|
22
|
|
|
6
|
Nicholas
|
Dlamini
|
RSA
|
24
|
|
|
7
|
Benjamin
|
Dyball
|
AUS
|
30
|
|
|
8
|
Enrico
|
Gasparotto
|
ITA
|
37
|
|
|
9
|
Amanuel
|
Gebreighzabier
|
ERI
|
25
|
|
|
10
|
Ryan
|
Gibbons
|
RSA
|
25
|
|
|
11
|
Michael
|
Gogl
|
AUT
|
26
|
|
|
12
|
Reinardt
|
Janse van Rensburg
|
RSA
|
30
|
|
|
13
|
Ben
|
King
|
USA
|
30
|
|
|
14
|
Roman
|
Kreuziger
|
CZE
|
33
|
|
|
15
|
Gino
|
Mäder
|
CHE
|
22
|
|
|
16
|
Louis
|
Meintjes
|
RSA
|
27
|
|
|
17
|
Giacomo
|
Nizzolo
|
ITA
|
30
|
|
|
18
|
Ben
|
O'Connor
|
AUS
|
23
|
|
|
19
|
Matteo
|
Sobrero
|
ITA
|
22
|
|
|
20
|
Andreas
|
Stokbro
|
DNK
|
22
|
|
|
21
|
Dylan
|
Sunderland
|
AUS
|
23
|
|
|
22
|
Jay
|
Thomson
|
RSA
|
33
|
|
|
23
|
Rasmus
|
Tiller
|
NOR
|
23
|
|
|
24
|
Michael
|
Valgren
|
DNK
|
27
|
|
|
25
|
Max
|
Walscheid
|
DEU
|
26
|
|
|
26
|
Danilo
|
Wyss
|
CHE
|
34
|
|
Each
of the riders were selected with the help of a technology solution that was
co-innovated by NTT and NTT Pro Cycling. The solution leverages advanced data
analytics that helps the team to select riders, prepare its race calendar, and
assign the right riders to the right races. Technology also helps the team
monitor the health and wellness of its riders through a mobile application, and
business-focused applications such as asset tracking, vehicle tracking and
monitoring, help the team to function as a well-organized global business.
Together, we’ve created the most technically advanced team in the WorldTour.
Doug
Ryder, Team Principal, NTT Pro Cycling:
“Thanks
to all of our partners, and in particular our title sponsor NTT Ltd. We strive
to be the benchmark within the sport through being a performance-driven,
technology-enabled team that is underpinned by our unique purpose-led approach
in support of the Qhubeka charity.
“Our
commitment to changing lives together with Qhubeka remains stronger than ever
and we’ll be looking to do so with even greater enthusiasm in 2020. Together
with our staff, riders, and valued partners this core belief remains a
foundation of our organization
“Our team’s story now continues into the next
phase, which will see us use our established platform to aim higher and to
shoot further. We truly are a team that was born in Africa but created for the
world.”
Ruth
Rowan, Chief Marketing Officer, NTT Ltd.:
“We’re
delighted to be continuing our partnership with Doug and the team under the NTT
brand in 2020. As headline sponsor, we help NTT Pro Cycling to leverage
technological innovation to realize its ambition of being ranked among the top
10 cycling teams in the world. We’ve brought together our data platforms, analytics
and machine learning and combined them with the NTT Pro Cycling’s expertise in
athletic performance to create a truly unique team that is focused on being the
best in the world, whilst riding for a cause.”
NTT Ltd. is a newly
launched, world-leading technology company comprising the coming together of 31
brands including Dimension Data, NTT Communications, and NTT Security, and forms
part of NTT Group. The company recently extended its global partnership with Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) until
2024. This partnership was
initiated by Dimension Data in 2015, and the
extension of this agreement enables NTT to continue providing technological innovations
to enhance fan’s viewing experience of the Tour de France and attract an entirely new generation of digitally savvy fans.
Five years into the partnership, A.S.O. has been enabled to
lead led the way in the use of advanced technology in cycling, demonstrating
how the use of data can truly revolutionize the sport’s fan
experience. This paves the way for NTT Ltd. to use its expertise to digitize
other areas of sport such as connected stadiums and
velodromes.
You can continue to follow NTT Pro Cycling’s
journey on social media via the following channels: Instagram and Twitter:
@NTTProcycling
About
NTT Pro Cycling
Founded in 2007, NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Team Dimension Data for
Qhubeka) became the first-ever African cycling team to gain a WorldTour
license, in 2016. With
the support of our headline sponsor and technology innovation partner, NTT, we are the most purpose-driven, performance-led, and
technology-enabled team in pro cycling today.
Our ambition is to continue to race at the highest levels in the world
cycling, to develop riders to realize their full potential and to inspire and
motivate people across the African continent to ride bicycles.
We have bases in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Italy.
We also ride to raise awareness for Qhubeka, a global charity operating
in South Africa, through our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign.
The hands-on the back of the team race jersey are a reminder that every Qhubeka bicycle is a helping hand up to a beneficiary,
which are provided through Qhubeka's learn-to-earn and work-to-earn programs
About
NTT Ltd.
Visit us at our new website: www.hello.global.ntt
