AFRICA RISING

Chris Just two years out from Africa's first World Championships, Marshall Bell investigates the state of cycling on the continent. Is it boom, stagnation or bust?

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When Natnael Tesfatsion of Trek-Segafredo goes back home to Eritrea, it doesn’t take long for him to be brought back down to earth from the highs of racing in the WorldTour and twice at the Giro d’Italia.

“When I go to race with the locals, I always get dropped,” the 23-year-old says. “It’s circuit racing and they sprint out of all of the corners. It’s 140km of sprint, sprint, sprint. They’re too strong for me.”

Tesfatsion is from the African country that has been uppermost in many cycling fans’ minds of late, almost exclusively down to his compatriot and same-age peer Biniam Girmay, who last year won Ghent-Wevelgem and a stage of the Giro.

Girmay’s successes have been hailed as a watershed for the sport, his triumphs opening the doors for more cyclists, especially black athletes, from across the continent’s 54 countries. It is hoped the 2025 Rwanda-held World Championships will further accelerate the opportunities.

It will, of course, take years to assess the tangible effect of Girmay’s and the Rwanda Worlds’ impact, but speak to anyone who knows the African scene well and they’ll inform you that the talent pool across the continent is as deep and extensive as anywhere else, with plenty more Girmays waiting to be unearthed.

But there is a problem: with accessibility to the sport severely limited, travel and finance restricting progression, and widespread corruption in some countries, finding Africa’s future stars in the villages, towns and megacities that make up the continent is almost as hard as it’s ever been.