Cyclingnews were with Doug Ryder when he found out his Dimension Data team would be in the WorldTour in 2016, and they confirmed that the South African was speechless with the news, after seeing all his hard work to establish the team as a dominant force finally pay off.

“It’s an incredible feeling, we worked so hard over the last three years to build this team up from a team that didn’t exist to becoming the number one second division team in the world,” he told Cyclingnews. “You never know until it’s really done, the UCI and the Licence Commission have their ways and means of what they need to do and focus on, to go through the right protocols.”

To see that we have fulfilled the sporting, ethical and financial criteria for a team to be in the first division… We were nervous, we were always hoping that it would happen but now that it has happened it’s a massive weight off my shoulders. We’re sitting in the foothills of Table Mountain and looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World and I feel like I’ve had Table Mountain lifted off my shoulders. It’s an absolute dream come true and it’s going to be an exciting few years ahead for this team.”

Now the team must prove they are worthy, replicating their Grand Tour success in 2015 across to success in all of the WorldTour events in 2016.