#GPNews10/6 - Rwandan Federation President says Kigali Worlds is safe
+ Le Court-Pienaar, Tour of Iran, Niyonshuti on Rwanda and much more from the world of cycling
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I spent the last weekend covering the final two stages of the Tour of Britain Women. Of course, as well as writing up the big stories from the race, I also took the chance to interview several riders for Global Peloton. These interviews will be dropping here over the next week or so for free. That’s only possible because of paid subscribers to Global Peloton. If you’d like to support my coverage of international cycling, please consider adding a paid sub - I’ve just slashed the annual subscription cost.
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Dan
'It's a safe country' – Rwandan Cycling President seeks to calm Kigali World Championships safety concerns
On Sunday I spoke exclusively to the President of the Rwandan Cycling Federation, Samson Ndayishimiye, about Kigali Worlds safety, reducing costs for national teams and the Championships' impact on African cycling.
Ndayishimiye was bullish about safety within the Rwanda and was keen reassure that anyone planning to come to the Championships would be safe.
“One thing for sure though, the UCI has confirmed that the World Championships is taking place in Rwanda. It's safe, it's a safe country," Ndayishimiye told me for Cyclingnews.
"There are other issues that are happening around the borders of Rwanda. There was the Tour du Rwanda, for example, which happened in February, we went all the way to the border.”
Ndayishimiye also confirmed that Belgium will send a full squad to the Worlds after threatening to reduce their squad size due to cost, and spoke about measures that the organisers have taken to ease the burden on national federations.
You can read the full story on Cyclingnews
Kim Le Court-Pienaar wins stage then crashes out of Tour of Britain Women
Six weeks on from becoming the first African ever to win a Monument at Liége-Bastogne-Liége, Kim Le Court-Pienaar arrived at the Tour of Britain Women with a new-found belief and perspective.
Earlier in the year, she told Global Peloton that she wanted to compete with the best in the world on a level playing field, something which she felt she hadn’t had the opportunity to do before. At Liége, she did just that and came out on top in the final sprint against Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse.
The AG Insurance-Soudal rider told Global Peloton at the start of stage three in Kelso that the win gave her confidence coming into the British race, pushing her to race aggressively on day two.
Unfortunately for the Mauritian national champion, she crashed on stage two injuring her sacrum and lost the leader’s green jersey.
She hobbled into the mixed zone before the third stage, saying “we'll see how we go today. If the body wakes up, then I'll try something and if not, then we'll make a call and health comes first.” As she came through the start/finish line with one lap to go of the challenging circuit, Le Court-Pienaar climbed onto the team bus.
You can read Global Peloton’s full interview with Le Court-Pienaar here:
Le Court-Pienaar bruised but looking ahead at Tour of Britain Women
A battered and bruised Kim Le Court-Pienaar limped to the sign-on on stage three of the Tour of Britain Women. After the high of taking the win on stage one and moving into the leader’s green jersey came the low of crashing early on stage two and injuring her sacrum.
How Isaac Del Toro became the Giro d’Italia’s break-out star
“Whatever the result, we were already very proud of him and we are still. And I'm very sure that I'm speaking about this feeling not only for myself, but for the entire country. I mean, he's the new hero. Basically this is like a dream come true, because that's our vision to create heroes that can inspire the new generations. So it's just amazing.” - Alejandro Rodriguez, co-founder of A.R Monex
‘The next Biniam’ takes first victory for his new team
Milkias Maekele, the rider who African Cycling insiders are calling ‘the next Biniam’, won his first race in the colours of German team Bike Aid on the opening stage of the Tour of Iran. The 19-year-old won the bunch sprint ahead of Turkish talent Tahir Yigit and his team-mate and fellow Eritrean Yoel Habteab.
The top two were reversed on stage two as Yigit took his first UCI victory before Dawit Yemane won the queen stage of the race and took the overall lead the following day. Yemane faded on the penultimate day as veteran Iranian rider Saeid Safarzadeh took a solo victory to set up his second consecutive win at the race.
Yigit won the final stage once again ahead of Maekele, but the Eritrean would seal the points jersey and second on GC, having never finished the five day race with one win, three second places and one sixth. It was a promising showing from the youngster who is yet to have been able to travel to Europe to test himself there.
Sadly, after the race it was announced that Turkish rider Mustafa Ayyorkun had died after crashing during the race. The Spor Toto rider was 21 and crashed during the final stage. He passed away due to his injuries on the 3rd of June.
Adrien Niyonshuti calls for lasting Rwanda Worlds impact
Rwanda’s first and only WorldTour rider, Adrien Niyonshuti, has called for the World Championships in Kigali to be a moment that impacts African cycling for decades to come.
"The world championship must not be a spot moment,” Niyonshuti said to tuttobiciweb. “With more bikes and more races - even just small circuits or stage races at 2.2 level - we can bridge the existing infrastructural gap and shift the focus towards African cycling in a future that may not be so far away.”
Niyonshuti is the national coach of Benin. Working with Team Africa Rising, Niyonshuti has done remarkable work to develop the sport in the West African nation over the past couple of years.
An Open Letter to Global Cyclists and UCI
Dear Cyclists of the World and UCI,
I’m writing to you directly in hopes that we can do the work that should have been nearly four years. To finish the work that was heartbreakingly close two years ago. To save the lives of three well-known cyclists in Afghanistan.
Read full story from Shannon Galpin’s Substack
Race Round-up
Mexican climber Edgar Cadena won his first career stage race at the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt. The Petrolike rider won the third stage with a solo attack and was second on the queen stage.
In South Korea, Australian Dylan Hopkins won the Tour de Gyeongnam, while local rider Euro Kim, a former continental champion was 6th overall
After five stages, the Tour du Cameroun is being led by national rider Boris Michel Tientcheu who won the opening stage.
Other Bits…
Watch the story of Bike Aid’s race at the Tour of Türkiye
The UCI have been running a training camp for talented Asian riders in China
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