Philip Columbus signed for Team Q36.5, a team that will have the support of Vincenzo Nibali among the staff, but some things are still unclear. The Q36.5 project is supported by a South African billionaire, Ivan Glasenberg. At the moment Columbo is in the Q36.5 road team squad but his focus seems to be MTB: Discovery Sports' entry into the MTB world seems to appeal to many road teams who try to have the right athlete to cover them as visibility even in the off road (see Ineos with Prevot and Pidcock).
RSI, Swiss radio and televisionrecently approached Filippo Colombo who answered various questions in this way.
They offered me to become an ambassador of Q36.5, off-road side, and I didn't hesitate to say yes. My goals are focused on MTB but it does not mean that I cannot deprive me of the road and this project is the best solution: professional staff, young athletes and a solid project with little pressure to result. I will concentrate on the road more at the beginning of the season but it is not certain that if necessary, when the calendar allows it, I will dedicate myself to MTB.
We had made a hypothesis of Columbus in Scott for 2023 given the expiration of Forster's contract: the agreement with the official team has not arrived but the rider is linked to Scott as technical material.
RSI: Is your goal to definitely go on the road?
I honestly don't know, I also need the road to understand how much I really like this new environment. I like MTB: I'm still hungry in this discipline and so many goals to achieve. At the moment I still prefer MTB but it is not certain that something could change in the futuree.
23 cyclists will make up the Q36.5 team, a group led by Douglas Ryder, known for managing the Qhubeka-NextHash team (disbanded in 2021). It is a ProTeam category team and its main sponsor will be the Swiss clothing brand Q36.5.
