The Dimension Data team, hitherto known as MTN-Qhubeka, have been granted a WorldTour licence for 2016 by the UCI, meaning that the WorldTour will once again return to its full quota of 18 teams. The team revealed the 'historic' news on Wednesday from their training camp in Cape Town, South Africa.
The South African team originally applied for Professional Continental status but the signing of Mark Cavendish and new sponsorship deals with Dimension Data, Deloitte, and Sapinda, coupled with the extra slot available in cycling’s top tier, made the step up a real possibility. The team was in discussion with the UCI, who welcomed the idea of someone filling the quota, and were duly audited by the Licence Commission in order to assess the financial, structural, and logistical viability of the move.
"This is incredible, I am so happy for this team, our partners and all the staff and riders that have worked so hard over the years to keep building this team to push beyond the boundaries and believe that anything is possible," said team principal Doug Ryder.
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"To get this news on our training camp in Cape Town as we are bonding with our new team for the future is simply the best motivation to move forward into 2016."
The team also announced it would create and register a Continental team in 2016. Based out of the team's training centre in Lucca, Italy, it will allow young African riders to race in Europe and gain experience before perhaps moving up to the WorldTour team.
The step up from Pro Continental level represents the latest in a series of huge strides forward for the African team, who rode a debut Grand Tour at the Vuelta a Espana in 2014 before becoming the first African trade team to ride the Tour de France this year. With an engaging story and charitable ethos, they have ridden a wave of popularity and capitalised upon that by securing the new sponsors and by making a marquee signing in the shape of Mark Cavendish.
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