{"id":184407,"date":"2025-10-02T06:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T06:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/184407\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T06:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T06:52:13","slug":"rwanda-worlds-boosts-african-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/184407\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda Worlds Boosts African Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Team Amani riders and others to channel thrill of racing against cycling\u2019s top stars: \u2018The future is bright\u2019<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Rwandan team prior to the elite men’s road race at cycling’s world championships on Sunday September 28, 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda. (Photo: David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Published October 1, 2025 10:15PM<\/p>\n

Rainbow jerseys weren\u2019t a possibility for them at this year\u2019s world championships<\/a> but for three young riders from Rwanda, contesting the races in Kigali was already a huge win.<\/p>\n

Being able to line out in the world\u2019s biggest one day races on home soil was the stuff of dreams for African riders Xaverine Nirere, Eric Muhoza and Samuel Niyonkuru, and something that will spur them on for the years ahead.<\/p>\n

For them and others, it was a real pinch-me moment to see the top professionals training and racing in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Hosting the first ever road championships in Africa will, they hope, be a major catalyst for future success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels unbelievable,\u201d Muhoza told Velo, speaking after the time trials and in advance of the road race. \u201cAt first, I couldn\u2019t believe Rwanda was really hosting such a huge event. But once it happened, it was emotional.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing riders like Poga\u010dar and Evenepoel, people I only knew from TV, right here in Rwanda, was amazing. Racing with them in my own country will be very special.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Multiple photos and videos have emerged from Kigali showing many of the world\u2019s biggest stars training with in Rwandan surroundings. Other riders who will compete in the championships have been able to share the roads with them. So too have everyday people, who have displayed considerable drive in trying to keep up with the professionals.<\/p>\n

There is also touching footage of Remco Evenepoel handing out bottles to local children, who are overjoyed by the gesture.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to imagine the knock-on effects of such exposure, with the next generation being very visibly inspired by the stars.<\/p>\n

Nirere is similarly boosted by the experience of the championships. She competed in the elite time trial and road race, and was blown away by what she felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a dream. To stand on the start line, with the UCI logo, the cameras, and the crowd, it felt like the first time I ever won a race,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was emotional and unforgettable.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it showed that choosing cycling was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early trailblazers lift a country shaken by genocide
\n\"XaverineXaverine Nirere (Team Rwanda, l) with Romina Hinojosa (Mexico) during the elite women\u2019s road race. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Taking up the sport was far from a given for these and other riders from Africa.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long, long way from the cycling heartland of Europe and while those such as Eritrea\u2019s Biniam Girmay, former Rwandan pro Adrien Niyonshuti and the retired Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot are examples of black riders who have competed within the professional peloton, role models are few and far between.<\/p>\n

Those who have already chosen the sport have many different reasons for doing so.<\/p>\n

For Nirere, her brother Valens Ndayisenga was an inspiration. Twice winner of the Tour de Rwanda, he competed with the Dimension Data for Qhubeka and Tirol Cycling Team continental squads. He retired in 2019, which made things more difficult for her as they used to train together.<\/p>\n

However he has continued to give her plenty of encouragement since then and also bought her the equipment she needed to keep building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is very proud of me,\u201d Nirere said.<\/p>\n

Muhoza also has a direct family link to the sport, with his cousin being the former professional Niyonshuti. The multiple national champion raced MTN Qhubeka\/Team Dimension Data squad for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe inspired me a lot,\u201d Muhoza said of him. \u201cWhen you grow up watching someone like him compete at the highest level, you want to follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother tried to become a professional rider, though he didn\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was also a cyclist. He raced in Africa before the genocide, but he passed away when I was only one year old. I never knew him, but people tell me he was very strong on the bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when I win races, neighbors say, \u201cYou ride like your father \u2013 but he was even stronger.\u201d That pushes me to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rwandan genocide was one of the most horrific events in recent decades. It took place in 1994 when groups of Hutu extremists murdered an estimated 800,000 people over 100 days.<\/p>\n

Former pro Niyonshuti was directly affected, losing six of his brothers.<\/p>\n

He threw himself into the sport to try to cope, and spent several seasons racing in Europe.<\/p>\n

Muhoza\u2019s own loss happened following the genocide rather than as a cause of it, but he too is driven by the absence of a close family member.<\/p>\n

His mother raised his family alone and told him for many years that his father was still alive in order to stop him being crushed by his passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me my father had gone away to work and would return, just to protect me from the truth,\u201d he said. \u201cLater, when I was older \u2013 around 15 or 17 \u2013 I had to accept that he had passed away. That was a very difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother doesn\u2019t like to talk about it much, but people around us say my father would be proud. I think so too.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo carry on his legacy means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overcoming headwinds
\n\"SamuelSamuel Niyonkuru (Rwanda) was 50th out of 118 starters in the under 23 men\u2019s road race (Photo: Wango Alfred)<\/p>\n

Life in places like Rwanda is, for many, much tougher than for those growing up in Europe. High poverty rates, conflict, political instability and other challenging factors exist. And for those wishing to take up a sport such as cycling, expense is obviously a big barrier.<\/p>\n

So too the lack of the same pathways that those in more traditional cycling nations can avail of.<\/p>\n

It consequently takes a huge amount of determination and commitment to become a strong rider. For this reason Niyonshuti set up an academy to help those trying to break through.<\/p>\n

Niyonkuru is one of those who benefited from that project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started cycling in 2018,\u201d the 22 year old told Velo. \u201cIn my village I used to see cyclists riding past every day, and one day I decided to join them. At first, I went with my own small bike but later I became part of Adrien Niyonshuti\u2019s Academy and started training every weekend after school.\u201d<\/p>\n

He singles out not having a proper bike as the most difficult aspect early on. When Niyonkuru started he had a single speed Black Mamba bike, putting him at a significant disadvantage to other riders who had proper racing machines.<\/p>\n

Niyonshuti\u2019s academy would later give him better equipment, but he was able to remain psyched about the sport before then despite that hurdle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motivation came from racing. Even with the single-speed bike, I was able to win some small races,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat showed me I could achieve more, and it pushed me to keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to finish third in the junior road race at the African Continental championship in 2021 and rode solidly in the Tour du Rwanda one year later.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cycling was my calling\u2019
\n\"XaverineXaverine Nirere (r) and Claudette Nyirarukundo helped the Rwandan team to 11th in the mixed relay TTT (Photo: Wango Alfred)<\/p>\n

For Nirere, she had a very different headwind in the early days of her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Rwanda, many people thought I was \u2018crazy\u2019 for cycling. That perception is the biggest challenge I\u2019ve overcome,\u201d the 23 year old said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectation was that women should stay at home, look after the family, and not pursue something like sport. That mindset made things very difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of that, when I decided to leave school to focus on cycling, many of my friends didn\u2019t agree with my choice. Even some family members said I was taking the wrong path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nirere\u2019s mother was one of those opposed to her ending her studies. Her father and brother were more in line with her decision, telling her to do what she loves.<\/p>\n

What prompted her choice in the first place was the opportunity to race with Team Amani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Amani project was set up in East Africa by the late Sule Kangangi, who was tragically killed in a crash in the Overland Gravel Race in Vermot in 2022, plus the international criminal lawyer Mikel Delagrange.<\/p>\n

Delagrange is an American is based in Geneva and specializes in human rights.<\/p>\n

He spent a lot of time in Kenya, Uganda and the Congo due to his work, which sees him help war crimes victims bring their perpetrators to trial.<\/p>\n

Delagrange is also a big cycling fan, and co-founded the team with Kangangi aiming to boost diversity within the sport and to increase the numbers of those from under-represented nations.<\/p>\n

Nirere was one of those whom the team was interested in. However the racing schedule clashed with school and she took the difficult decision to put her studies aside, at least for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt cycling was my calling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She has since gone on to become national champion in road and gravel racing and last month won the 2.2 Pupkewitz Megabuild Windhoek Women\u2019s Tour by almost ten minutes. She also finished second overall in the Migration Gravel Race.<\/p>\n

From being someone who some tried to dissuade from racing, she has now become a role model for young female cyclists in Rwanda and Africa.<\/p>\n

Those cyclists will be further inspired by the world championships taking place there last week.<\/p>\n

Tour de France and WorldTour status: an eight year plan
\n\"MembersEric Muhoza (left) and Rwanda teammate Eric Manizabayo (R) pictured at last year\u2019s Tour du Rwanda (Photo: Guillem Sartorio \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Team Amani has also proved very important to Muhoza and Niyonkuru, who say it has greatly helped their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, I had nothing and my talent might have gone to waste,\u201d Niyonkuru explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now, with the support of Team Amani, I have good equipment, good nutrition, and proper training. I am very grateful. There are so many talented riders in Africa, in villages just waiting to be spotted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He calls for more support for organizations like Amani and Adrien\u2019s Academy, pointing out that they are vital to help discover riders and to provide opportunities.<\/p>\n

As things stand Team Amani has the backing of a range of big partners, including Rapha, Poc, Factor, SRAM, Wahoo and others.<\/p>\n

Its goals include bringing more races to Africa in order to boost the scene there and to enable the riders to develop and thrive. As part of that, Delagrange was heavily involved in setting up the Migration Gravel Race, which attracts world-class competition to Kenya.<\/p>\n

Competition abroad is similarly important, with Amani riders competing at events such as Unbound Gravel, Badlands, the UCI Gravel World Championships, and the Cape Epic MTB stage race.<\/p>\n

So what of the future?<\/p>\n

The team plans to keep building the level of events its riders compete in. Major goals have been listed for the ambitious project.<\/p>\n

It wants to be consistently winning big gravel races within four years, to have a women\u2019s WorldTour team within six years. And, within eight years, to have a Pro Continental men\u2019s team riding the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

It also wants to challenge what it terms the Eurocentric status quo in the sport, and to transform how the cycling world views Africa.<\/p>\n

The Rwanda worlds will help with those preconceptions, even if a lot of work lies ahead.<\/p>\n

Counting the benefits of Rwandan worlds and big role models
\n\"KIGALI,Isaac Del Toro (Mexico) and Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) race past many African spectators on the Mur de Kigali during the elite men\u2019s road race (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The dust is now settling after a joyous and very successful hosting of the world championships in Kigali. The UCI, Team Amani and others will hope that the nine days of racing will add momentum to the development of the sport in Africa.<\/p>\n

So too will Nirere, Muhoza and Niyonkuru.<\/p>\n

The latter is very upbeat about the experience and the likely after-effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing. It made me very proud to represent my country in Rwanda, in Africa, at the world championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy to see the biggest riders in the world here in my home country. I think the future is bright. Hosting the world championships here gave us motivation and belief. Many African riders now know it is possible to reach the highest level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith more support, I believe we will see many more Africans in the biggest races.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muhoza echoes that, and points out that there are currently positive signs that African riders can make a big impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have role models like Biniam Girmay. When he won a stage at the Tour de France, it showed the whole world that Africans can not only finish races, but also win them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, people used to say it was a success just for an African to finish a Grand Tour. But now, thanks to riders like Biniam, we know we can aim higher.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thanks to Xylon van Eyck for his assistance with this article. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Team Amani riders and others to channel thrill of racing against cycling\u2019s top stars: \u2018The future is bright\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,92850,62576,92851,92852,92853,54267],"class_list":["post-184407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-african-cycling","tag-tag-evergreen","tag-tag-rwanda","tag-tag-sule-kangangi","tag-tag-team-amani","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}