With the UCI Road World Championships taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2025, the entire African continent is gearing up for this historic event. It will be the first time the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) takes its leading annual event to Africa, and all stops are being pulled out to ensure the local athletes shine.
The main focus is on young riders, with a view to making Junior and Under-23 podiums in two years’ time.
To help achieve this, a joint initiative of the UCI and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), with additional backing of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is being conducted via the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) and its Continental Development Satellite in Paarl, South Africa.
Soaking up the cycling culture
Following a process of talent identification and a training camp in Paarl, 13 athletes aged between 14 and 20 have been in Brittany, France, for the last month to train and race in a European environment. UCI WCC Director Jacques Landry explains: “These athletes are incredibly talented, but the reality is that while the 2025 UCI Road Worlds will be in Africa, most of the competitors will be European and racing in European fashion. So our African riders need experience racing like them.”
Three female athletes from Namibia, Zimbabwe and Egypt were joined in Brittany by another young woman from Saudi Arabia. The ten male athletes taking part in the European training camp come from Algeria, Eritrea, Egypt, South Africa, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Mali and Mauritius. They are accompanied by two coaches and a mechanic and have been provided with road bikes thanks to UCI WCC sponsor SCOTT Sports SA.
“Brittany is a land of cycling that has produced champions such as Bernard Hinault, Louison Bobet and Jean Robic, to name just a few,” points out Jacques Landry. “There are 200 clubs in Brittany and 844 road races were organised there in 2022. This unique cycling culture, with exposure to different levels of cycling across different age categories, is unparalleled to what can be found in Africa or elsewhere in Europe.
“Exposure in Brittany will help prepare these athletes for possible future professional careers and give them the opportunity to represent their countries not just in Rwanda in 2025 but also at the Olympic Games.”
First races on European soil
That racing experience began at the beginning of this month and is already bearing fruit.
After the Dinan Agglomération 2023 Cycling Trophy in Ruca last week, the Africans were in the sprint for third place, eventually placing two riders in the top ten (6th and 9th). Their results were already a significant improvement on their first experience racing together a few days previously. And this despite the fact they were using the criterium in Ruca as a training exercise, riding 60km to the start then riding home after an intense race of 65km.
It was a successful and rewarding exercise according to their coach Clint Hendricks, of South Africa: “The team spirit and companionship was incredible to see after the race, with everyone smiling, analysing and discussing the race. It is beautiful how we are growing and the belief we are gaining as a group and individuals.”
The women also improved from race to race, and in Ruca placed their best rider just 11 places behind the first Elite woman in the mixed men-women field. The women’s coach, Christine White, said that while the young women had plenty of endurance, they will now need to focus more on technical skills such as cornering and responding to attacks.
Some of the African athletes are returning home in the second half of June for their National Championships before a second training camp in Brittany in July and August. With the help of the IOC, through their Olympic Solidarity programme, coaches from 15 different African nations will also be invited to join athletes and staff in July so they can also get better acquainted with training and racing in Europe.
Succession of training camps
During their second trip to Europe, those who have qualified to represent their country will travel to Great Britain for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Glasgow and Scotland from 3 to 13 August. The athletes will finish the year with a final training camp in Paarl from mid-October to mid-December.
A similar programme of camps will be organised for 2024 and the first part of 2025 leading up to the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali. The aim is to have a total of 20 athletes in the programme by 2025.
“All riders in the programme will need to meet ongoing training and performance requirements to maintain their places,” explains Jacques Landry. “We will gradually understand how they react to such intense training and racing, and which athletes are most likely to continue their development and be able to realise their full potential.
“This is an exciting time for African cycling and we are convinced that the continent’s athletes will be forces to be reckoned with in 2025 and beyond.”