People, Planet, and Performance: Behind the Scenes of a Professional Cycling Team

Recently, GIS had the privilege of hosting a guest speaker session for students with former Olympic cyclist and current General Manager of a UCI ProTeam, Doug Ryder.

Doug founded the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in 2023 and joined us to discuss his current management role, reflect on his career so far, and share valuable advice with the many GIS students who tuned in.

Now in his third year as the team’s General Manager, Doug offered behind-the-scenes insights into what the cycling industry is really like.

He began by discussing the leadership and management qualities needed to run a team of 25 riders and nearly 50 overall staff, explaining the challenge of balancing elite athletes with a team-first mindset.

“Having big riders helps, but some big riders come with a lot of collateral,” he explained. “It can be challenging integrating them into a team. 

“We are 25 riders in our team today, so whatever is good for one needs to lift everybody because we are only as successful as our 25th rider. We didn’t want to have a team within a team.“

One of these big riders is double Olympic champion Tom Pidcock, who races for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team alongside his brother Joseph. Having star names like Pidcock brings high expectations, and Doug has very high hopes for his team in the near future.

“He’s loving the focus, the attention, the commitment to him and so the relationship is working well so far. We’re three months in and we look forward to a long-term relationship, potentially reaching the podium in the Tour de France in two to three years.” 

The Tour de France is one of the world’s most physically demanding sporting events, preparing an athlete to compete at that level takes an enormous behind-the-scenes effort.

For Doug’s team, that preparation includes booking 1,200 airplane tickets, deploying 23 vehicles to transport 300 bicycles and 3.5 tonnes of nutrition, all contributing to a monthly spend of £100,000 on fuel, accommodation, and food.

Much of the funding required for this comes from sponsorships. However, in the pursuit of financial support, many professional cycling teams face pressure to align with sponsors whose values may not match their own.

At Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Doug has made a conscious effort to partner with companies that share his values.

“Cycling is healthy, it’s fit, it’s outdoors, it’s adventurous. It really talks to the world that we live in today. Through COVID, we saw how cycling just boomed in every country, people wanting to get outdoors, wanting to be fit and healthy, breathe fresh air, be in nature and the countryside, and I think that’s where cycling is so relatable and such a nice sport to connect with. 

“The partners we attracted were attracted to us because of our values and our legacy and what we’d done before. It wasn’t like we went to them and tried to convince them, it was pretty mutual”, he said.

“Most organisations talk about people, planets and profits. We talk about people, planets and performance.”

Doug’s focus on running a purpose-driven business extends to his work with the charity Qhubeka. Founded by Anthony Fitzhenry in 2005, Qhubeka is a South African charity that donates bicycles to schoolchildren and key workers across southern Africa. To date, it has provided over 110,000 bicycles, supported by Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and the Tour de France.

“By providing bicycles to kids and communities, we saw a real uplift in social mobility. Sixty percent of the bikes went to girls, and more girls were matriculating and finishing school. That was massive, considering the dropout rates in South African communities. It was an amazing thing to be a part of.”

“Through the success of our cycling team, we’ve raised over €6 million for charity and helped get 100,000 kids on bikes. We leveraged our platform as a global brand to mobilise young people.

“Today, sport is so little about impact. To have that built into the DNA of your organisation helps attract the best talent—on and off the bike. As a sports organisation, you need to have that impact. It’s not just about profit-making and ego at the end of the day.”

To attend any of our future guest speaker events with leading members of the sports industry, like Doug Ryder, keep an eye out on our events and webinars page.

Article by Zakaria Anani