Controversies detract from Africa's first Road Cycling World Championships

Rwanda is playing host but its selection has been questioned

- FLO CLIFFORD

After a Vuelta a Espana which made headlines more for disruptive protests than any sporting drama, most within cycling would have opted for a low-key World Championships in a venue devoid of political significance. But politics are once again hard to ignore with the sport's most prestigious event held in Africa for the first time in its 104-year history.

The decision to reward Rwanda with hosting rights will shine a spotlight on the growing depth of cycling on the continent and, it is hoped, provide inspiration to younger generations looking to follow in the footsteps of groundbreaking African riders including Daniel Teklehaimanot and Biniam Girmay.

But the buildup to the event has been overshadowed by sportswashing concerns around repression and human rights abuses.

Authoritarian regimes and cycling in the 21st century seem to go hand in hand, with Amnesty International warning of “enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, excessive use of force, unfair trials and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression” under Paul Kagame, who has ruled the country officially since 2000 and as de facto leader since the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Those concerns have been brushed aside by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling's governing body, whose president David Lappartient vowed to bring the World Championships to Africa when he was elected in 2017. Other worries over Rwanda's involvement in the civil war in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo have also been swept under the carpet. Rwanda denies backing the rebel group M23 in the conflict, although Human Rights Watch say it is “not up for debate”.

Human rights organisations allege that war crimes, including torture and forced deportations, have been carried out during the conflict, with the DRC government saying around 7,000 people have been killed since January.