Africans ready to embellish Tour landscape (Reuters)
By Martyn Herman UTRECHT, Netherlands (Reuters) – When five African cyclists stood on a podium in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in front of Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Night Watch this week Douglas Ryder probably pinched himself. On Saturday, 50km down the road in Utrecht, nine men kitted out in the distinctive black and white striped jerseys of MTN Qhubeka will roll down the ramp for the start of a Tour de France adventure few believed possible. The team, funded by a South African mobile phone giant, is the first from Africa to compete in the Tour having been handed a wildcard from cycling’s governing body the UCI.