Five ways the Kigali World Championships will boost cycling in Africa

The UCI Road World Championships are less than four months away. Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, will host a landmark event that the UCI hopes will be a catalyst for the development of African cycling.

Coming off the back of a period of unprecedented success for African riders, in the shape of Africa’s first men’s Tour de France stage winner Biniam Girmay and first Monument winner in Kim Le Court, the Kigali Worlds is seen as the perfect platform to grow the sport further and create more opportunities for riders from Africa to race at the higher levels of the sport.

African cycling may be enjoying some landmark victories, but the statistics show that the number of African riders competing at the top levels of the sport is actually decreasing. There are just eight African men in the WorldTour this year and two women, compared with thirteen men and one woman in 2019. The momentum has stalled. African cycling’s progress in the sport needs a kick-start.

Generally speaking, cycling in Africa needs three things to develop to the next stage and create the next generation of stars in the likeness of Girmay and Le Court: more and better racing opportunities in Africa, more investment in coaching and equipment and easier access to racing in Europe.

It’s not all been plain sailing for Africa’s first Worlds. Several nations have announced that they plan to send reduced delegations to Kigali due to the high cost to national federations. There is also an ongoing conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo – in which Rwanda is alleged to be playing a role – which is creating a fear of a wider East African war and doubts over safety at the World Championships. 

Despite all this, the Kigali Worlds are set to go ahead and will provide a major boost to the sport on the continent.

Several nations across Africa already have sophisticated and well-developed cycling infrastructure, where there is good quality coaching, racing and equipment available. The hope is that these Championships will help push those nations up another level and provide opportunities for their best riders to get to Europe, and to the elite level of the sport. For much of the rest of the continent, the Kigali Worlds are a window into the sport and signify a starting point.

This is Africa’s moment, but many in the sport and especially the UCI are hoping that it’s just the beginning of Africa’s cycling journey. The Kigali World Championships could supercharge cycling in Africa. Here’s how.

When announcing the Kigali World Championships, the UCI also launched their ‘Africa 2025’ strategy, stating the aim of seeing African riders being truly competitive in Rwanda.

Since 2022, the UCI World Cycling Centre satellite in Africa has been scouting the continent for the best young talent, with a particular focus on women and junior riders. Led by UCI World Cycling Centre Africa Director JP van Zyl, the initiative has centred around holding training camps in South Africa, providing dedicated coaching and creating opportunities for riders to race both in Africa and from a base in Brittany.

“That's our goal, to have the juniors at least compete and race in the front peloton and be part of the race and inspire the rest of Africa,” Van Zyl told me last year.

“We selected the best athletes in Africa, give them the opportunity, give them a high-performance environment and teach them – from hygiene to race tactics to cornering to just the whole global overview of what they don't have. Remember, most of these athletes start racing at 17.”

Already, even before the Championships have begun, extra investment in African cycling has been injected by the UCI. This select group of riders have been exposed to the elements required to progress to the higher levels of the sport. Some have even gained further European experience, such as two-time Eritrean national champion Ksanet Weldemikael, who is now racing full-time in Europe with the World Cycling Centre’s UCI Women’s team. 

If one of these riders can do what may seem impossible and jump onto the podium in one of the categories at this year’s Worlds, it will send shockwaves through the cycling community in the nation where they are from. It will inspire a generation of riders and encourage much-needed financial investment. 

The reaction to the first African Worlds has not been all positive. For months, questions have swirled in the press about Rwanda’s capability to host the event, whether it is safe and about the financial cost of creating a high-performance environment for the sport’s top stars. 

If the event runs smoothly and efficiently, the doubts as to whether Africa can and should host elite road cycling events will quieten. More events will surely head to Africa in the future and the continent’s stature in the sport will grow.

But it’s a big ‘if’.

Since last year, several national federations have spoken out about the extreme costs to competing in the World Championships this year, with some suggesting that outgoings are as much as double those of attending the Worlds in Wollongong, Australia, in 2022. Many high-end hotels in Kigali have reportedly hiked-up their prices around the time of the Worlds, meaning some may need to use smaller, less-well-equipped accommodation. The Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark are among the nations that have already declared they will send reduced delegations, with some not committing any riders to the younger categories. 

The other key variable is the ongoing conflict in DRC. How might that impact the Championships? Rwanda itself has been largely peaceful as the conflict has rumbled on since January, but the situation is volatile. In March, the European Parliament called for the Worlds to be cancelled due to Rwanda’s alleged role in the conflict, which the Rwandan government has always denied.

If these challenges are navigated effectively, and the Worlds are a success, it will encourage further elite sporting events in Rwanda and the continent. If the opposite happens, it could be another generation or more before Africa is considered again for a big event like this, which would be a travesty for African cycling. 

The UCI World Championships are not just about the racing. For the UCI, it’s an opportunity to show off the sport to new potential markets and investors. This is set to be one of the main thrusts of the UCI’s work at the Rwanda Worlds: to woe the powers that be in Africa, encouraging them to invest in the sport.

National leaders from all over the continent will be invited to Kigali in September, with private events held by the UCI which they will be invited to. The hope is that in seeing the Worlds on African soil, a host of African nations will be mobilised to invest financially to seek to grow the sport.

“There will be many ministers and Presidents from African nations that will come to this World Championship,” Van Zyl says. “The championships itself with David Lappartient as our spokesperson and interacting with them, explaining the goal that's going to make the difference. I fully believe it's going to have a huge impact.”

Away from the TV cameras pointed at the riders, this gathering of leaders could be the most important part of the Championships in terms of the legacy it leaves. If Lappartient and the UCI can play their role well there, it could have a greater impact than anything that happens out on the road. 

How do you grow to become among the best in the world, without racing alongside them? It’s a major issue for young cyclists in Africa: they can’t see how good they need to be because they can’t race against the best riders in their age group. 

If youngsters do get an opportunity to race, it is against the best in their own country, with one, maybe two chances a year to compete with the best in Africa. Kigali will be a one-off chance for many of these riders to compete against the best in the world in their category.

In doing that, they will know the gap that they have to cross to make it as a professional cyclist. It’s a vital piece of information, which will either demoralise or motivate. If a rider does impress, it’s the perfect shop window to show off their skills to European teams.

“There is always a moment, that turning point where you say, ‘I want to be a cyclist’. I believe for so many Africans, it could be that turning point,” Tsgabu Grmay told me last year during his time as a coach with the UCI World Cycling Centre, where he focused on developing young talents from their base in Brittany. 

He’s right. Every professional cyclist has had that moment which inspired them to ride and race. Cycling in Britain is now experiencing the benefit of the height of the 2014 men’s Tour de France starting in Yorkshire, with a boom of young talent now coming through who were 8, 9 or 10 years old at that time. For African cycling, and Rwandan cycling even more so, this is the opportunity to inspire. 

The difference of course is the level of opportunity for a young rider from Britain, compared to one in Rwanda. There is little point inspiring a nation if the glass ceiling is just above their heads. Inspiration without opportunity is just wasted hope. For the Kigali Worlds to have a lasting legacy on African cycling, investment must follow.