Spills, some thrills, as ‘Africa’s team’ battles race for the ages

SA-based Team MTT ProCycling came within centimetres of a stage win, but eventually left Le Grand Boucle empty handed after a series of crashes and injuries to their highly rated sprinters.

In the harsh world of pro cycling the best laid plans can be undone in a moment. A touch of tyres, a slip on a corner or a moment of lapsed concentration and missing a breakaway can be the difference between success and defeat.

South Africa’s NTT ProCycling team were on the wrong side of that equation during a mesmerising 2020 Tour de France. The team built and co-owned by former South African Olympian Doug Ryder left Le Grand Boucle empty handed this year, although just being on the road was success enough.

The 2020 Tour was in danger of not going ahead because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, but it eventually did — two months later than scheduled — and has been widely hailed as one of the best ever. For all teams, but especially “smaller” outfits such as NTT, it was essential that it took place. NTT’s R300-million annual budget relies massively on exposure for its sponsors — and nothing gives more exposure than the Tour de France.

From unlikely winner Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia, to the brutal course, which encompassed more mountain days (eight) than usual and a dramatic penultimate stage time trial on the slopes of the iconic Les Planche des Belle Filles that turned the race on its head, this year’s Tour de France had it all. It even had the whiff of a doping scandal, when the hotel of the Arkea Samsic team was raided the day after the Tour ended and suspicious products confiscated.

While Pogacar fought an heroic battle against the mighty Jumbo Visma team of pre-race favourite and eventual runner-up Primoz Roglic (which has an annual budget of close to R1-billion), NTT were stuck in mid-pack searching for stage wins.

The closest they came was on stage seven when veteran Edvald Boassen Hagen ended second by mere centimetres in a bunch sprint to the line. NTT’s strategy relied heavily on the in-form Giacomo Nizzolo winning a stage.

“Overall it’s been a tough three weeks for us and nothing like what we expected,” NTT sporting director Bjarne Riis said. “We had our minds set on more but we were unlucky right from the start with crashes.

“Losing Nizzolo early in the first week, who was our best opportunity to win something here, was just sad. Unfortunately, the rest of the guys just didn’t have the power (to consistently challenge for stage wins). We really tried to do so but then also just didn’t have the luck and the legs to do what we wanted.”

Ryder added: “It was an incredible Tour and we came in with high hopes of earning a stage win. We selected strong sprinters, including South African champion Ryan Gibbons in his first Tour de France, and had some bad luck.

“On stage one in Nice, Nizzolo came seventh but could have won had he not been boxed in, in the sprint. On stage three Nizzolo took third and of course, stage seven was a heartbreaker with Wout van Aert edging Edvald out. That was the closest we came.” DM168