The BBC reports that a ‘solution’ has been reached after a rider on the African team MTN-Qhubeka was racially abused by a fellow competitor during the Tour of Austria. Belarusian rider Branislau Samoilau, of Pro-Continental team CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice, will reportedly donate a month’s salary to the Qhubeka charity to get more African students on bikes.

It had promised to be a momentous day for MTN-Qhubeka after Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot became the first black African to earn a day in the polka dot jersey following his efforts on stage six of the Tour de France. However, in Austria the team were busy speaking to the UCI after Natnael Berhane was racially abused.

MTN-Qhubeka team principal, Douglas Ryder, called the incident "outrageous" but also claimed that it was by no means a one-off, saying his riders regularly had to battle prejudice and bullying.

“One of the biggest teams in the world last year in the Tour of Spain, when we were trying to bring one of our riders to the front going into the mountains, said: ‘You guys don’t belong here, fuck off to the back of the bunch’.

“We have riders like Tyler [Farrar] and Edvald [Boasson Hagen]; riders who are well respected in the peloton, and they are their team-mates, and they say, ‘Hey guys, come on, these guys deserve to be here’.”

A CCC spokesperson told The Telegraph:

“In the heat of the battle some words have been said by our rider, which were very unfortunate and unacceptable.

“We, as a team, do not tolerate that kind of behaviour and the rider will suffer consequences. Before the next stage the situation has been clarified between two teams and the riders, but we don’t want to get into details.”

Ryder said he believed the solution was that Samoilau was going to donate a month's salary to the Qhubeka charity which provides African students with bikes.