{"id":1028,"date":"2025-09-17T11:55:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/?p=1028"},"modified":"2025-09-17T11:55:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:55:25","slug":"history-in-the-making-hope-for-rwandas-riders-at-the-2025-uci-road-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/?p=1028","title":{"rendered":"History in the Making! Hope for Rwanda\u2019s Riders at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Head Coach of Rwanda\u2019s National Cycling Team, F\u00e9lix Sempoma, says the 2025 UCI Road World Championships could be historic\u2014not only because it will be the first time the event is hosted in Africa, but also because it could mark the first time a Rwandan rider finishes the elite men\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 98th edition of the World Championships will take place in Kigali from September 21 to 28, 2025, bringing together riders from over 100 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda will field 23 cyclists, who are currently finalizing their training camp in Bugesera District, just five days before the competition begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Sempoma says preparations have gone well, with the team having trained in Musanze, France, and Bugesera to meet all performance goals. This time, he adds, there is renewed hope: \u201cIn the past World Championships, we went with only two or three riders, often preparing abroad. We always had hope but ended up not finishing. Now we are at home, in front of our fans. I know the World Championships are never easy, and cycling doesn\u2019t reward you just because you are racing at home, but the difference is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the fact that no Rwandan has ever completed the elite men\u2019s race, Sempoma believes 2025 is the year history can be made: \u201cWhat I can assure Rwandans is that our riders are well prepared, their morale is high, they have the talent, and with support from the Ministry, we now have modern equipment. We will give everything to make sure this year is remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHistory is already being made with the World Championships coming to Rwanda\u2014the first time in Africa. But more history can be written if a Rwandan performs well in different categories.\u201d According to Valentin Bigango, First Vice-President of the Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY), general preparations are almost complete, and the national team has received everything they needed. \u201cPreparations are at an advanced stage. Together with our partners, we\u2019re finalizing the last details\u2014about 96% of the work is done. The national team got the support we had planned, and now they are fully focused on the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Head Coach of Rwanda\u2019s National Cycling Team, F\u00e9lix Sempoma, said that the 2025 UCI Road World Championships could be historic for Rwandan riders.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Riders Confident Ahead of Kigali Showpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Byukusenge, one of Rwanda\u2019s most experienced riders with multiple international races under his belt, says the team is ready to race at the highest level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the challenge that no Rwandan has ever finished the elite men\u2019s race, Byukusenge believes racing in Kigali could inspire change: \u201cIt will make a big difference because this is the first World Championships in Africa, and for us Rwandans, it\u2019s special. We know the circuit well\u2014we\u2019ve raced on it before, even if not too many times. Our goal is to fight, and I know millions of Rwandans will be watching us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also downplayed concerns about the 267.5 km distance of the elite men\u2019s race: \u201cThat won\u2019t be a problem\u2014we already train close to 300 km in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xaverine Nirere, who has impressed in several international races this year and will be making her third World Championships appearance, will race in the elite women\u2019s category alongside three other Rwandans. \u201cThis is different from the 2023 and 2024 editions. Here, we\u2019ll start and finish on the same Kigali circuit, the place we train every day. That gives me confidence\u2014we can perform well and even win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Pacifique Byusa, the youngest on the team and competing in the under-19 category, this will be his first major international race: \u201cIt\u2019s my first big challenge at world level. I\u2019ll be racing against very strong riders, but my training has been solid, I\u2019ve followed my coaches\u2019 program, and I believe I\u2019ll do well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His teammate Liliane Uwiringiyimana, also in the junior women\u2019s category, echoed his determination: \u201cWe will give it our all, push ourselves to the limit, and make sure we finish the World Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author: Justinmind HARERIMANA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Head Coach of Rwanda\u2019s National Cycling Team, F\u00e9lix Sempoma, says the 2025 UCI Road World Championships could be historic\u2014not only because it will be the first time the event is hosted in Africa, but also because it could mark the first time a Rwandan rider finishes the elite men\u2019s race. The 98th edition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}