http://finalkilometre.com/2014/03/18/eritrea-land-of-promise/
Eritrea: Land of Promise
March 18, 2014
Future of Cycling series
It was former UCI President Pat McQuaid who pushed for the global expansion
of the sport, around 2009, when Cycling was quite stagnant. The same races
were competed by riders from the same nations, with a few exceptions but
not many. Tour of Oman, Tour of Dubai and the Montreal and Quebec classic
races didn’t exist, to name just a few. A large portion of the world wasn’t
involved and didn’t care about cycling. Fast forward to 2014, and things
have changed. A Slovakian cycling superstar, and Britain is arguably one of
the most successful nations in the sport. Go further down the ladder and
there’s an even more diverse scene of riders from countries who may not yet
be making waves on the World Tour, but will be in the future.
It gave me the idea of a series of profiling nations who you may not even
know competed in cycling, yet have promising futures.
I start with Eritrea. A small country in west Africa, relatively poor for
many years and a conflict with Ethiopia, which used to be part of Eritrea
for many years, dominated the Eritrean landscape. Now more affluent and
peaceful, the Eritrean people have turned back to a sport that they dearly
love, cycling. Dating back to the Italian occupation of Eritrea up to the
1940′s, Eritrea have had cycling in their blood. The Tour of Eritrea (Or
Giro d’Eritrea, as it is known in the native Italian tongue) ran for two
years in the 1940′s and captured the imagination of the locals. In 2001, it
was brought back as a celebration of 10 years of Eritrean independence and
has fueled the desire of Eritrean cycling ever since. In 2013, Eritrea won
4 of the 7 events at the African cycling championships, including a fourth
successive victory in the Men’s Road Race. This is why I chose to start my
series with Eritrea.
Daniel Teklehaimanot
An obvious choice to start with when talking about Eritrean cycling. The
only black African rider, let alone Eritrean rider, to ride for a World
Tour team when he joined Orica-GreenEdge in 2012. His first breakthrough
was on the African continent, when he finished 5th overall in the Tour de
la Paix in the Ivory Coast at just the age of 19, finishing ahead of riders
such as Nicholas Roche. He took it upon himself to move to the UCI World
cycling centre in Aigle, Switzerland in 2009 and rode prestigious amateur
races with the team. He came 6th overall in the Tour de l’Avenir, the U-23
Tour de France, and was 2nd overall including 2 stage wins in the Tour of
Eritrea. In 2010, he was 1st in the African Championships Road Race,
Individual Time Trial and Team Time Trial and 1st overall in the Tour of
Rwanda. This was the catalyst for his leap up to World Tour level, with
interest from ProContinental teams already. He stayed in the amateur ranks
for one more year, and it paid off. He won the ITT and TTT at the African
Championships again, and won Kwita Izina Tour overall (with 3 stage wins).
He was courted by 4 World Tour teams but chose Orica-GreenEdge. His first
season was a steep learning curve, but he continued to win National and
African championships and was the first Black African to race in a Grand
Tour when he rode the Vuelta a Espana. His 2013 season was plagued by visa
issues, but he’s moved to the African MTN-Qhubeka team for 2014 and hopes
to be a leader in their World Tour races, hopefully including entry as a
Wildcard to the Vuelta. Although Daniel has had a hard time adjusting to
the pro peloton, he has been a pioneer for Eritrean cyclists and is still
only 25, with many years of riding still ahead.
Daniel Teklehaimanot in his Orica-GreenEdge kit
Natnael Berhane
Natnael Berhane burst on to the scene at a mere 19 years of age in the 2010
Tour of Eritrea, winning one stage and the overall classification. He won
the African Road Race Championship in 2011 and 2012, and won the 2012 Tour
of Algeria, after coming 3rd in the 2011 version. This led to him signing
as pro contract with the Europcar team for 2013, competing at the
ProContinental level. He got a good win in the African Championships TTT
but his real breakthrough was in May at the Tour of Turkey where he
produced a fine ride to win the Queen Stage. He finished Second overall on
the road, but was promoted to First overall when previous winner Mustapha
Sayer was banned for testing positive. In 2014, he’s already started well
with the overall victory at the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, becoming the
first African winner of the race based in Gabon. 2014 may well bring more
victories for Berhane, but at just 23 he is one of the most talented riders
about with great scope to improve. It will be interesting to see how
Europcar’s step up to World Tour level affects him and whether he can
become a trailblazer for cycling, even more than Teklehaimanot.
Natnael Berhane winning Satge 3 of the 2013 Tour of Turkey
Merhawi Kudus
Merhawi Kudus is in my opinion the most promising out of the 3 Eritrean’s
I’ve been describing here. At 18, he won a stage and wore the Yellow Jersey
in the Tour of Rwanda, before a stellar 2013 which included 1st overall and
a stage win at the Tour de Cote d’Or in France, 1st in the Freccia dei Vini
in Italy and a stage winner in the Tour of Eritrea. He also came 2nd
overall in the Vuelta Ciclista a Leon in Spain. This doesn’t just show
promise from African based races, he’s come to Europe at a very young age
and won races against Europeans used to the culture and the conditions. In
an article by Gregor Brown for Cycling Weekly, John-Lee Augustyn said “He’s
so light on the bike, He’s got skinny legs but they travel fast”. Kudus
said himself that “It’s better being on the team with other Eritrean’s like
Daniel Teklehaimanot”. Kudus has already shown great promise this year, his
first as a professional with the MTN-Qhubeka team, with a 2nd overall place
in the 10 stage Tour de Langkawi. Kudus will be riding some major races but
not the hardest that MTN will be entering this year, with the Settimana
Internazionale Coppi E Bartali at the end of March one to look out for him.
Merhawi Kudus (left) on the podium after Stage 4 of Le Tour de Langkawi 2014
I think what Kudus says is important, “It’s better being on the team with
other Eritrean’s”. The adjustment to European life and European culture is
the huge factor in whether we can see African/Eritrean riders win some
major races. These guys are prodigiously talented but if they are not happy
off the bike, motivation can wane and performances suffer. Africa in
general is a hugely untapped source of talent in cycling, and although the
infrastructure for races may not yet be readily available, having African
heroes delivering great performances could provide realistic dreams for
these guys. As a continent, Africa uses the bike possibly more than any,
with it being the main vehicle for many around the continent. I’m confident
that the guys I’ve portrayed can be hugely successful and maybe, in 20
years time we could be discussing Eritrea as one of the powerhouses of
world cycling.
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to look into in future articles.
Received on Tue Mar 18 2014 - 22:21:23 EDT