Serge Pauwels joins Team MTN-Qhubeka

Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung are happy to announce that Serge Pauwels will join our African Pro-Continental team next season. Pauwels joins Team MTN-Qhubeka after having spent the past 5 years racing at the World Tour level. Pauwels is a super strong domestique who has ridden in support of a number of grand tour contenders and also has an impressive team time trial record.

Having ridden all 3 grand tours, Pauwels experience is a resource that will be extremely important to our team as we look to develop our young African climbers into real GC contenders. The support Pauwels will be able to give our young Africans in the mountains and in stage races will be instrumental to their success. Coming from Belgium, Pauwels addition to our squad is also really important in terms of globalising our team for increased support to the Qhubeka foundation.

Rider – Serge Pauwels

Over the last couple of years I have had the luck to ride for some of the biggest teams in the world. Having been in a supportive role for some of the best riders on the planet, I have gained a lot of experience, especially in Grand Tours. At Team MTN-Qhubeka I will get the unique opportunity to share this experience with young, promising African riders like Louis Meintjes and Merhawi Kudus. Team MTN-Qhubeka is for me a team with a soul, and that’s why I am very excited to take on this new challenge, which comes at a perfect time in my career.

Team Principal – Douglas Ryder

I am really happy that Serge has taken on the challenge to join Team MTN-Qhubeka. Our African riders like Merhawi Kudus, Louis Meintjes and Jacques Janse van Rensburg have shown what they are able to achieve in a grand tour and in stage races this year, with Serge’s experience and support we now have a rider that can help them on their path to become GC contenders into the near future. We have been on a steep learning curve since Team MTN-Qhubeka became a Pro Continental team last year and this is another step forward in our development.

About MTN-Qhubeka

Team MTN-Qhubeka was founded in 2007, steadily working its way up from a regional team to now being a Continental Pro team with bases in South Africa and Italy. MTN-Qhubeka’s goal is to give talented African riders a path into the pro peloton while raising funds for the Qhubeka charity.

Qhubeka is an Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa) word that means “to carry on”, “to progress”, “to move forward”. Qhubeka (qhubeka.org) helps people move forward and progress by giving bicycles in return for work done to improve communities, the environment or academic results. Having a bicycle changes people’s lives by increasing the distance they can travel, what they can carry, where they can go and how fast they can get there. To contribute to the #BicyclesChangeLives Campaign, click here.

MTN (mtn.co.za) is a long time supporter of Qhubeka and the team. Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting 210 million subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Learn more about the team at www.teammtnqhubeka.com​.