Ukraine cycling's wartime effort

The big wheels keep on turning through a country that will ride again

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Oleksandr Onoshko was a cycling celebrity in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa. A former professional who had raced across Europe, his career highlight was winning a stage of the Tour of Turkey in 2005.

“Everyone knew Oleksandr,” says sports photographer and amateur racer Iurii Makalis. “He was a kind man, a real professional.” His adopted city of Odessa was one of Ukraine’s cycling heartlands, with two professional teams, seven amateur clubs, and a local cafe that was colloquially known as the cyclist’s hub. It was a city that breathed bike racing.

After Onoshko retired, he set up a coaching business in Odessa. He then moved back to his home city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine and was head coach of the club he had co-founded, Atlelic Cycling Club. His aim was to develop cycling in the city and introduce more children to the sport. He told everyone he met of his enthusiasm. “He thought 2022 would be a great year for the cycling community in Mariupol,” says his friend Makalis. “It was post-Covid, he could race across Ukraine and Europe again, and he was setting up his own club to help youngsters, which was his passion.”

When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, it wasn’t long before Mariupol came under sustained attack from the invaders. “The Russians forced all of Oleksandr’s young riders to flee to other parts of Ukraine and to Europe, but Oleksandr stayed behind,” explains Makalis.

"Races are banned as emergency services are needed at battlefields"