TOKYO, Nov. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 – old and new – 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 world cycling, to develop riders to realise 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 programmes.
About NTT Ltd.
NTT Ltd. is a global technology services company bringing together the expertise of leaders in the field, including NTT Communications, Dimension Data and NTT Security. We partner with organizations around the world to shape and achieve outcomes through intelligent technology solutions. For us, intelligent means data driven, connected, digital and secure. As a global ICT provider, we employ more than 40,000 people in a diverse and dynamic workplace and deliver services in over 200 countries and regions. Together we enable the connected future.
Visit us at our new website: www.hello.global.ntt
Contact:
Julie Moon
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Corporate Communications | NTT
T: +44 20 3936 0454
M: +44 77 6996 0966
E: julie.moon@global.ntt