By Faith Nyasuguta
East African nation Rwanda, is set to host the 2025 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Road Cycling Championships, an event that often attracts more than 5,000 cyclists and 20,000 delegates.
For the first time since it was launched, the tournament will be held in Africa in 2025.
The fresh announcement has come as the 2021 UCI World Road Cycling Championships comes to an end in Louvain, Belgium.
In 2022, the Road World Championships will be held in Wollongong, Australia, while Glasgow and Zurich will host the event in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
In 2019, Rwanda had applied to host the tournament but faced competition from Morocco for the hosting rights.
However, UCI president David Lappartient in May this year attended the Tour du Rwanda and held talks with officials and incumbent president Paul Kagame.
For 10 years now, cycling in Rwanda has been on the rise with the Tour du Rwanda becoming the nation’s biggest sporting event and the biggest cycling race across Africa, up from the amateur event it was in 2008.
Tour du Rwanda was upgraded in 2019 from a 2.2 to a 2.1 UCI category race, making it Africa’s second race with a 2.1 badge, after Gabon’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.
This year Rwanda has hosted the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the Afrobasket 2021, and the recently concluded Africa Volleyball Championship.
