On a busy roadside in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, Ronald Yiga bends over his racing bicycle, inspecting the wheels.
Dressed in shiny black sweatpants, a yellow, red and green top, and a helmet, the 32-year-old cyclist is preparing for the road cycling world championships in Rwanda, the first time in the event’s 104-year history that it has taken place in Africa.
For Yiga and colleagues from his Fun Cycling Club, a small but growing community of riders in Uganda, the competition offered a chance to race alongside their heroes and maybe catapult a sport in Africa that has long felt like a pastime.
Photo: AFP
“This is so big for the continent,” said Yiga, who took up cycling during the COVID-19 pandemic to ride around lockdown public transport restrictions.
Yiga said he is excited to see Tadej Pogacar, the reigning road race world champion and four-time Tour de France winner, in this week’s championships in Rwanda.
The Slovenian rider is to compete tomorrow in the men’s elite road race, with the women’s race scheduled for today.
Photo: EPA
“I can’t wait to see him [Pogacar] ... because I have been seeing him on TV in the Tour de France. I can’t wait,” said Yiga, a full-time cellphone repairer, before setting out on a 100km training ride.
For Aziz Ssempijja, Yiga’s teammate, it is more than just representing Uganda.
“I might perform well in these championships and you never know I might get a team that can be able to spot my talent ... that can push my skills to the next level,” he said.
Photo: AFP
“This could open doors for us,” said Rwandan national team cyclist Eric Manizabayo. “It’s about my future.”
Like others from Mali or South Sudan, many African riders race with vintage rim-brake bikes, while professionals ride much more expensive machines. Yet they remain undeterred.
The championships could provide a breakthrough moment for Africa, said Jacques Landry, director of the World Cycling Center, a development initiative set up by world cycling body UCI.
Photo: EPA
“They’re not a finality of what’s going on in Africa. They’re a rebirth of what can happen moving forward. I think for most of the national federations, they do see it as a way to ignite more activities in Africa, the linchpin of African cycling,” Landry said.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, cycling is still considered low-key, often associated with commuters or those of modest means.
However, its popularity is rising, with more local competitions giving riders, including children, “a race to go to, whereas before there were no races,” Landry said.
Thousands of visitors have descended on Kigali, where the competition runs until tomorrow. A global audience of more than 300 million is expected to watch elite riders from about 100 nations test themselves on courses, including the men’s 273km road race up the Mur du Kigali with more than 3.5km meters of elevation gain.
“This is our moment to show the world Rwanda’s spirit,” said Eric Mupenzi, a motorcycle taxi operator navigating the capital’s police-controlled streets.
“We will line the hills and roar for every rider, like the whole city is pedaling together,” he said.
The championships crown years of effort by Rwanda to project itself through sport.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s administration has invested in venues such as the US$100 million BK Arena, which hosted the Basketball Africa League finals, struck partnerships with European soccer teams and might bid to host Formula 1’s first African Grand Prix in more than three decades.
“The sky is the limit,” Kagame said earlier this year while inaugurating a new sports facility in Kigali. “Sports can bring tens of billions to Africa, and we must be part of that story.”
Ugandan cyclists see it much the same.
Yiga believes the races will lift not only Rwanda, but the entire region’s tourism industry.
“These championships have never been in Africa so it’s going to help us a lot. We Africans need to give a good performance so that Europeans can also know that Africans can do cycling,” Ssempijja said.
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