Australians Ben Dyball and Dylan Sunderland have signed for next season with WorldTour squad Team NTT, which is the new name for the current Dimension Data outfit. Denmark's Andreas Stokbro – currently racing for Pro Continental team Riwal Readynez, and the winner of this year's under-23 Tour of Flanders – will also join the team.
Dyball has ridden the 2019 season for Continental-level squad Team Sapura, with victories this year having included both the road race and time trial titles at the Oceania Continental Championships in March, a stage and the overall at the Tour de Langkawi in April, and a stage – and third overall – at the Tour of Qinghai Lake in July.
"I am still in a bit of disbelief that I will be racing with Team NTT in 2020," said 30-year-old Dyball as part of the team's announcement. "I have dreamt of riding at the top level of cycling my entire life, so I'm incredibly excited about taking the step up next year."
Sunderland – nephew of former pro and now Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Flanders Classics race director Scott Sunderland – currently races for Continental-level Team Bridgelane, this season following a truly international programme that has seen him race in Romania, France, Japan and the USA following the Australian cycling summer, with the highlight having been sixth place on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Utah, where he and his teammates held their own against what were on paper much stronger WorldTour and Pro Continental teams.
"I'm truly grateful for this opportunity, and equally proud to be joining team NTT in 2020," the 23-year-old Sunderland said. "The challenge of stepping up to WorldTour level and taking the next step in my career with NTT is something I'm ready for, and I'm really looking forward to racing within the wealth of experience on the team."
Dimension Data team principal Doug Ryder added that the team's technology partner, NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), which owns Dimension Data, has found new ways to identify future talent, which he says is a "game changer".
"We have employed a rider dashboard analysis system that takes all riders' points per race days and their win ratio over a time period across the whole UCI calendar, which resulted in Benjamin, Dylan and Andreas being identified," he explained.
"We believe this approach will result in performances that greatly strengthen our team, and ultimately give us a competitive edge in one of the world's toughest sporting environments.
"These riders have the chance now to prove themselves at the highest level, and we look forward to walking this journey with them as we take a leading role in what the future of the sport looks like," said Ryder.
