Seven months before the World Championship, cycling for the first time in Rwanda, the European Parliament passed a resolution to cancel the event, which is to cancel the “If Rwanda course changes”, neighbor Dr. Referred to the country’s struggle with the Congo. The governing body of Cycling, Union Cycleist International (UCI) has insisted that there is no plan B.
And what is this in the context that 2025 Tour du Rwanda took place. The eight -day program was in a historic cycling nation in 1988. The star team withdrew Quick-Sus, which increased security concerns, but the tour went relatively easily in addition to some plays in the seventh and final stages, where the race was canceled with more than 13 kilometers (eight miles) due to bad weather.
Ecological idea essential
Bike Ed owner and founder Mathyas Shanapka said that the week was ideal from the perspective of a game. The team, a professional German organization that focuses on supporting Africa’s athletes, finished third in general classification with the fastest team, Rider Oliver Mathis.
Was it not for the evil vethar that ended the last phase ahead of time, they also won the stage. Schnapka has been riding bike assistance since 2014, and has been running worldwide.
“We are always riding a bicycle in dangerous places. In 2014, we were in Kiev three weeks after the field rebellion. When I say this I do not make it careless, but the reality of a country on the streets is almost always opposite to media depiction,” Shanapaka told DW.
“The impression you get from one place is often through a report, but you cannot forget that it is just a small representation of a huge country where millions of people live and thousands of things are happening every day.”
German is not concerned about security in Rwanda, saying how professional sports bubbles are often much higher than athletes. He is either not worried about the organization, given that Tour du Rwanda is probably the best organized cycling phenomenon on the continent. He is a bit worried about the weather, but does not exceed more places in the world.
“If there was rain in the Olympics in this summer, it would have been a nightmare for cycling.
However, the most complicated, the current discussion around the UCI Road World Championship is a reflection of Shanapaka.
“Can the country say that it is free from struggle? It is an easy allegation about a country away from us about corruption, human rights problem or a country. But you are shoulder to shoulder. Usually more complex,” said Schnapka.
“You must definitely assess this, but consider who the right to judge others? If a country has carried out the violation of human rights, it should be punished, but all that should be inspected and if it is read in colonial time for RAW. He said that the materials that we need to assess their role is also there.
“Cycling is our passion. We see it as a vehicle to travel through a country. Our cyclists are standing with people on the road, they talk to people who have never talked further. Never talk before the game. Can build the sports bridges.”
Cycling in Africa
Despite the positive impact of this year’s Tour du Rwanda, some of the cycling begins to be felt for September in the world.
Team Africa Rising (TAR) CEO Kimberly Kot said, “If we loosen the race, if they get out, if European pushes it, it will destroy the African cycling,” Team Africa Rising (Tar) CEO Kimberly Kot told DB.
“We will take decades to overcome this because it feeds in this legend that Africa is dangerous.”
It is no surprise that Benin, Sierra Leone, Togo and many other countries across the continent, as leaders of a bicycle talent, training and racing programs, are emotionally associated with this situation.
“Has anyone ever recalled that there is a complete herd of Africans in the mixture that is hoping to represent their country and the continent? Nobody cares, and they are going to do so much harm of the game for a long time. The time ago we see another world championship on the African continent,” Kot said.
“I get emotional about this because I have worked here for 16 years and everything is a fight to achieve the opportunities they deserve. And because a whole herd of people in the political realm only decides that their best is in their best interest … It is not in the best interest of athletes or the country trying to develop games.
The coat recalls how she worked with a omission with a former Uganda athlete and institutional bias is still an issue.
In the early years of Tar, the founder of Team Rwanda called for the riders to obtain professional kits and tools for the riders. What is an email response from someone wishing to donate the gear used: “Why will anyone give you more expensive bikes than that, and why do they have all these new stuff? They should be happy with donations.”
“You will tell for a Belgian child or an American child, it is okay for you to say about the thesis African juniors? And so I am seeing all this right now because there is an extension of Africans right now,” Kot explained.
“We always call it ‘Kumbaya’ influence. They should be happy with whatever we give them. I say, no, now we are more than 110 African riders at the World Tour, Pro Konty and Conti level – actually more than the United States. Take interest and sports to the next level.
It is difficult to understand how many African riders have sacrificed in Tour du Rwanda, but the perspective of those people on the ground, such as Kot and Shanapka, proved how much bicycle has been done in Africa.
Edited by: Chak Penfol