http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/11/news/rwanda-leads-way-african-cyclists_353857
Rwanda aims to become a hub for African cyclists
By Stephanie Aglietti
Published 2 days ago
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Janvier Hadi (Louis Garneau) of Rwanda rode in the break on stage 4 of Tour
of Alberta, and would take the most aggressive jersey that day. Photo:
Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com (File).
KIGALI, Rwanda (AFP) — Three years ago, Janvier Hadi pedaled a singlespeed
bicycle taxi. This week, he won the prologue of the Tour of Rwanda, a
success mirroring the growth of cycling in his country.
Born into a family of modest farmers, the 23-year-old took up the sport
seriously after taking part in a race in the south Rwandan town of Butare.
“I heard there was a race for a singlespeed bike. … It was like a test, and
I won; I got first place,” he told AFP.
“At first I thought that because I was young I didn’t have the strength
like some of the others … but when I beat them, I thought finally, I can do
this cycling,” he said smiling, and proudly wearing his winner’s yellow
jersey after his win in the capital Kigali.
Cycling in Rwanda, as in the rest of Africa, is growing as a sport.
“We started with five riders and five-speed cycles from the 1980s, but most
of the gears were not working, they were wrecks,” said Jonathan Boyer, the
first American to have raced the Tour de France in 1981, and who in 2006
became the first coach of Team Rwanda.
Cycling in Rwanda “grows gradually,” said Boyer, explaining that like Hadi,
many racers are former bicycle taxi drivers, who build strong muscles
pedaling up Rwanda’s rolling hills, transporting people and goods. The
Rwanda Cycling Federation has around 100 members.
One of Africa’s toughest races
“Cycling in Rwanda is still very young,” said federation president Aimable
Bayingana. “We have not really a long history of cycling, we are building
the sport, evolving at the same time as the Tour of Rwanda.”
In June, the country opened a training center in the northern town of
Musanze with modern equipment, which is hoped to become a regional training
center for African cycling. The Tour of Rwanda is gradually gaining a place
as a key race on the continent.
Experts say the tour of Rwanda — dubbed the land of “a thousand hills” — is
one of the toughest races in Africa.
Riders on the eight-day tour, which finishes Sunday, battle over 934
kilometers (580 miles) and climb some 19,500 meters (64,000 feet) with
peaks rising to 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) high. Cyclists race up and down
through coffee, tea, and banana plantations.
“This is a country where the hills are really tough,” said Cameroonian
racer Damien Tekou. “But we came to win.”
Organizers estimate over two million spectators will see the race, nearly a
fifth of Rwanda’s 11 million people.
The race’s reputation is growing, with 14 teams taking part this year, with
cyclists from across the continent — including Algeria, Burundi, Morocco,
Eritrea, Ethiopia — as well as from Europe too, from France, Germany, and
Switzerland.
“When we compete with Europeans here it means that we Africans are
developing,” added Tekou, adding his dream was the continent would soon
rise up the ranks on a wider international stage.
Changing image of Rwanda
Yves Beau from the team Bike Aid — which includes Eritrean cyclist Mekseb
Debesay, who is in the running to win the UCI’s Africa tour ranking — says
the sport is becoming more organized.
There are increasing number of competitions held each year across the
continent, he notes.
But while, for now, African cyclists are sometimes hampered by a lack of
often expensive kit and the best bicycles, he believes things will improve
in the future.
“I think they really have the qualities to make good cyclists,” Beau said.
Boyer points not only to Rwanda, but to Ethiopia and Eritrea, which he said
have a large pool of talent, although tapping that will require serious
training and investment.
For Rwanda, it offers more than the sporting race alone.
Hadi says it provides a different image of Rwanda abroad than just the
memories of the 1994 genocide when an estimated 800,000 people were killed
in just 100 days.
“We must move forward, to change the image of the country, so that people
think not just of genocide but say, ‘Rwanda has good cyclists,’” he said.
“Like in Kenya, people talk about their marathon runners, so in Rwanda we
in Rwanda we have strong riders.”
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Received on Sun Nov 23 2014 - 08:37:34 EST