Also at ITB Berlin, Rwanda proudly campaigned for the Road Cycling World Championship.
Photo: dpa/Jörg Carstensen
As a “unforgettable moment” for both Africa and the UCI cycling association, its President David Lappartient advertised the world title fights in advance. Lapp-artient himself has campaigned for this premiere since his election as the UCI boss: he encouraged Rwanda to apply and demands less than the usual 13 million euro organizer fee. The UCI would start loss of income at this World Cup through its solid household, it was said from her headquarters in Swiss Aigle. “We also celebrate the 125th birthday of the UCI in Africa. That was my dream since I was chosen. And now I can proudly say that this is exactly what happens, «announced trap artistic.
This World Cup, which starts with the individual time trials on Sunday, promises to become very special for many reasons. »The enthusiasm for cycling is huge. Already at the tour du Rwanda there was a great atmosphere. Now the cycling fans of the neighboring countries will also come and from completely crazy nations like Eritrea, «says Adrien Niyonshuti to the World Cup. He was Rwanda’s first cycling professional and was trained in the legendary “Africa Rising” project. Their former training center in the mountains in northern Rwanda is still the headquarters of the association.
Niyonshuti then became a professional at MTN Qhubeka, the pioneer racing stable in Africa. In the meantime, the 38-year-old passes on his knowledge in his own cycling academy in Benin, West Africa. “I want the entire continent benefit from our know-how,” he says “ND”. The World Cup in Rwanda considers Niyonshuti to be important and hopes that it will be a catalyst for the development of African cycling as a whole.
However, the thrust of the World Cup reaches its limits. Due to the qualification system of the World Association, only a few African nations can bring drivers into the men’s street races. “We don’t have a single starting place,” says Niyonshuti about the Beninian delegation, with which he returns to his homeland. And the once strong cycling nation South Africa, which had shone in the first ten overall ranking at the Tour de France in earlier years, as well as Mauritius and Algeria, can only set a starter. Host Rwanda were awarded six places. Thanks to the UCI points, which was particularly achieved by superstar Biniam Girmay, Eritrea can send seven drivers into the race for Africa master Henok Mulubrhan. All other African nations go away empty-handed at the home World Cup.
“The African association is also to blame. We have far too few races on the continent to collect UCI points. We don’t have a continuous competition calendar from spring to autumn like in Europe, «complained Niyonshuti. Although the problem has been known for a long time and the World Cup was awarded to Rwanda in 2021, there was little or nothing in this important area. The only sparse competition opportunities do not increase motivation in training.
After the end of MTN Qhubeka and their successors such as Dimension Data, the way to the World Tour for African talents has also become more stony. This is mainly due to the fact that in Europe it is now being couted in early teenage. “The 14, 15- and 16-year-olds are already being observed, then come to the junior teams and at 19 to the development teams of the race stables,” says Jens Zemke, once a sporting director of Niyonshuti at MTN Qhubeka and currently coach of the German national selection. The scouts shy away from the way to Africa. The hurdles for African talents on the way to the European -dominated top sport grow up again. So it becomes even more difficult to emulate legends such as mountain jersey, Daniel Teklehaimanot or the multiple tourist winner Biniam Girmay from Eritrea.
In terms of organization, host country Rwanda should at least make the World Cup an experience – not only when it comes to the cheering on the part of the fans: the infrastructure is also well developed. There is experience through the orientation of the annual tour du Rwanda.
Politically, however, there are dark shadows above the event. Rwanda is massively involved in the war for mineral resources in the neighboring country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. So massive that the European Parliament passed a resolution in February in which it asked to move the World Cup to another host as long as Rwanda refused to negotiate peace.
There are now peace negotiations in Katar’s capital Doha. However, they are always disturbed by fighting. Last weekend, for example, the Congolese army conquered the city of Shoa in the province of North-Kivu. Shortly thereafter, the opposing of Rwanda’s military supported M23 again the city, which is located on Congolese territory.
It is very unlikely that there will be protests against this war on the edge of the World Cup, as recently against the Gaza War during the recently ended. Rwanda’s security forces are known to massively suppress political dissent. UCI sports director Peter van den Abeele also assured the Belgian industry service “Sporza”: “We will ensure that the World Cup does not lead to such actions.” Preventive agreements have already been made with host Rwanda.