Young Africans get European opportunities ahead of Kigali World Championships
Milkias Maekele signs for Bike Aid and big chances for some of Africa's best prospects
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There are lots of exciting things coming up on Global Peloton over the next month, including an interview with India’s greatest ever cyclist, my manifesto to make pro cycling more global, as well as the usual news, insight and analysis. Today, a really positive piece of news about several young African riders getting big opportunities to race in Europe.
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Young Africans get European opportunities ahead of Kigali World Championships
For any young rider from outside of Europe who wants to make it as a successful professional cyclist access to European racing is always one of the biggest hurdles. With the Kigali World Championships now six months away, several African riders have been given new opportunities to get that vital experience - including one of the most highly-rated African youngsters around.
European racing gives these riders the chance to test themselves against riders who may be better than them. It allows them to compete in large pelotons on technical, narrow circuits where positioning is all important. Crucially, it also provides a platform for these riders to be spotted by bigger teams who may give them the chance to progress into cycling’s higher levels. They can’t get these things back in their home country.
These riders and their national federations will also be hoping that the opportunities given will give them a boost ahead of the biggest cycling event Africa has ever seen - the 2025 Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
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Mathieu van der Poel and Lorena Wiebes may be dominating the Classics season thus far, but spring is also a prime opportunity for riders in the junior peloton to compare themselves against the rest. Friday’s E3 Saxo Classic saw a surprise team on the junior men’s start-list as a South African national squad took part in the race for the first time.
The team was made up mostly of riders experiencing this level of racing for the first time. Half the team are based in South Africa, making this an incredibly rare opportunity for them to compete against the best juniors in the world.
Josh Johnson was the team’s only finisher, staying in the chasing peloton to place 16th behind solo winner Mikita Babovic of the mixed Cannibal/CCC team. First year junior Johnson has signed a contract to race with the highly-regarded Team GRENKE - Auto Eder for this season, a feeder squad to the WorldTour Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team.
“Really good learning experience in my first nations cup picking up p16 and 4th first year junior. Still a lot to learn from and more improvements can be made,” South African junior time-trial champion Johnson said on social media after the race.
There were two additional South Africans competing in the E3 Saxo Classic, both riding for professional feeder teams. Gustav Roller was the other South African finisher, in 24th. He will ride for the Belgian Crabbé-Dstny junior team this year. Dean Woolley also took part, racing for WWV Hagens Berman-Jayco.
“It's a great team, and I am super proud of what they've performed today,” the team’s DS Wilco Leusink said on social media. “The guys really fought, despite a bit of bad luck with flat tyres and crashes, where we lost some of our guys.”
Having a South African national team racing a junior Nations Cup race is an encouraging sign. The nation which has produced more professionals than any other on the continent has faced a difficult few years in terms of developing new riders. Speaking to Global Peloton last year, Lidl-Trek’s Ryan Gibbons said that he is concerned that in a few years’ time the South African flag could disappear from the WorldTour altogether.
Greg Stedman, Vice President of CyclingSA responsible for sport and technical, told Global Peloton that there are intentions to see the national junior team race further Nations Cups throughout the season.
“We have a number of SA Juniors based in Europe this year and also a lot planning trips to race,” Stedman said. “Therefore, if we get an invite we are definitely going to try and put a team together with the riders in or travelling to Europe.”
“We know that racing in Europe is key for rider development, so we will try and use whatever opportunities arise to give these youngsters the opportunities,” Stedman added.
Milkias Maekele is perhaps one of the most highly-rated young Africans around, so it is no surprise to see him score an opportunity to race in Europe. The 19-year-old Eritrean is already a winner of four UCI races in his short career and will now race for the German Bike Aid team for the rest of the season. Rumours circulate that a few WorldTour and ProTeams have been looking at Maekele.
First revealed on a ProCyclingStats start-list, and later confirmed to Global Peloton, Maekele will make his debut for the team at a Turkish 1.2 race this weekend. He will race the GP Syedra Ancient City alongside Bike Aid’s two other Eritrean riders, Yoel Habteab and Dawit Yemane.
Maekele burst into our consciousness last year by winning a stage of the Tour d’Algerie and the subsequent one-day race GP de la Ville d'Annaba. He also placed 6th in the African Continental Championships at the end of the year and has backed up those performances with two more UCI wins in Algeria this year.
Maekele has been compared by several African cycling insiders to Biniam Girmay, Eritrea’s first Tour de France stage winner. He’s a powerful sprinter and is a dominant force on the Asmara criterium circuit. With the opportunity to expand his racing horizons, Maekele should be able to develop his climbing, endurance and positioning, making him ready for higher-level racing.
Understandably as the hosts of the first African World Championships, there is also a push for Rwandan riders to gather European racing experience this season.
Rwandan UCI continental team Java-Inovotec have managed to send three of their top riders to train and race in France over the next five months.
Etienne Tuyizere, Eric Manizabayo and Patrick Byukusenge will use the time to attempt to secure a place in the Rwandan team for the Kigali Worlds. Tuyizere is an under-23 rider and is likely to be picked for the squad, however with the men’s elite currently ranking 49th in the world, it seems unlikely that the host nation will secure more than one spot for the road race - making for a highly competitive battle among Rwanda’s best male riders.
Additionally, during the summer, the UCI World Cycling Centre will bring a select group of young male and female African riders to race in France to aid their development, as they have done in the past two seasons. The UCI have a specific focus on seeing African riders performing in the junior and under-23 categories at the Kigali World Championships.
Access to Europe is the biggest and most difficult barrier for most African riders to get over in their journeys to becoming professional cyclists. Cost of travel, accommodation and other things play a big part in that, as do access to visas and being noticed by teams who are willing to take them on.
These initiatives are hugely welcome for the development of African cycling, as are those that have been ongoing for several years.
Among them, the pioneering Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto Generation team began their season over the last two weekends, with five Africans from five different nations on their roster. Ethiopian Selam Gerefiel put in some strong performances to take top-10s at two Spanish national-level races over the weekend.
Top-ranked African Continental team Madar from Algeria also continue their expansion into European racing alongside competing on the Africa Tour. Former professional Youcef Reguiui has raced to two podium placings in races in Türkiye and Greece in recent weeks.
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Looks like Kigali WC is increasingly certain