Cycling | 2025 Cycling World Championships in Rwanda: Premiere in Africa

In advance, UCI President David Lappartient promoted the World Championships as an "unforgettable moment" for both Africa and the UCI. Lappartient himself has been a strong advocate for this premiere since his election as UCI president: He encouraged Rwanda to bid and is demanding less than the usual €13 million event fee from the host country. The UCI will offset any revenue losses at these World Championships through its solid budget, according to its headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland. "We are also celebrating the UCI's 125th anniversary in Africa. This has been my dream since I was elected. And now I can proudly say that's exactly what's happening," Lappartient announced.

This World Championship, which begins on Sunday with the individual time trials, promises to be very special for many reasons. "The enthusiasm for cycling is huge. The atmosphere was already fantastic at the Tour du Rwanda. But now we'll also have cycling fans from neighboring countries, and from cycling-mad nations like Eritrea," says Adrien Niyonshuti, looking forward to the World Championships. He was Rwanda's first professional cyclist and was trained in the legendary "Africa Rising" project. Its former training center in the mountains of northern Rwanda is still the association's headquarters today.

Niyonshuti then turned professional with MTN Qhubeka, Africa's pioneering racing team. The 38-year-old now shares his knowledge at his own cycling academy in Benin, West Africa. "I want the entire continent to benefit from our know-how," he tells nd. Niyonshuti considers the World Championships in Rwanda to be extremely important and hopes they will be a catalyst for the development of African cycling as a whole.

However, the momentum of the World Championships is reaching its limits. Due to the world governing body's qualification system, only a few African nations can even field riders in the men's road race. "We don't have a single starting place," says Niyonshuti of the Beninese delegation with which he is returning to his homeland. And the once strong cycling nation of South Africa, which in previous years shone with stage wins and top-ten finishes in the overall standings at the Tour de France, is only allowed to field one starter, like Mauritius and Algeria. Host country Rwanda was awarded six places. Eritrea can field seven riders thanks to the UCI points earned, primarily by superstar Biniam Girmay, as well as the extra starting place for African champion Henok Mulubrhan. All other African nations will miss out on a place at their home World Championships.

"The African federation is also to blame here. We have far too few races on the continent to earn UCI points. We don't even have a continuous competition calendar from spring to fall like in Europe," complained Niyonshuti. Although the problem has been known for some time and the World Championships had already been awarded to Rwanda in 2021, little to nothing has happened in this important area since then. The limited competition opportunities obviously don't boost motivation in training either.

Following the demise of MTN Qhubeka and its successors like Dimension Data, the path to the World Tour has become even more challenging for African talent. This is primarily due to the fact that scouting in Europe now begins in their early teens. "Even 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds are being observed, then moved to junior teams, and at 19, into the development teams of the racing teams," Jens Zemke, former sporting director of Niyonshuti at MTN Qhubeka and currently coach of the German national team, told "nd." Scouts, however, are shying away from the African route. The hurdles for African talent on the path to European-dominated elite sport are thus once again rising. This makes it even more difficult to emulate legends like mountain jersey wearer Daniel Teklehaimanot or multiple Tour stage winner Biniam Girmay from Eritrea.

From a purely organizational perspective, host country Rwanda should at least make the World Cup a memorable experience – and not just in terms of the fans' support: the infrastructure is also well-developed. They have experience in this field, having hosted the annual Tour du Rwanda.

Politically, however, a dark shadow hangs over the event. Rwanda is heavily involved in the war over natural resources in its neighboring country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. So heavily so, in fact, that the European Parliament passed a resolution in February calling for the World Cup to be relocated to another host country as long as Rwanda refuses to enter into peace negotiations.

Peace negotiations are now underway in Qatar's capital, Doha. However, they are repeatedly disrupted by fighting. Last weekend, for example, the Congolese army captured the town of Shoa in North Kivu province. Shortly thereafter, the opposing M23, supported by the Rwandan military, reoccupied the town, which is located on Congolese territory.

It is highly unlikely that there will be protests against this war on the sidelines of the World Cup, as there were recently against the Gaza War during the recently concluded Vuelta a España. Rwanda's security forces are known for their massive suppression of political dissent. UCI Sports Director Peter Van Den Abeele also assured the Belgian industry publication "Sporza": "We will ensure that such actions do not occur at the World Cup." Preventive agreements have already been made with host country Rwanda to this end.