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South Africa - The State of Cycling In Africa
Nicholas White pro rider with South Africa's Medscheme pro cycling looks at the
past and the future of cycling in his S.A. - waiting for another
international champion after 98 years...
by Nicholas White
Introduction by Lee Rodgers
Road racing in Japan is perceived to be a minor sport and it’s popularity
is confined to the racers themselves and a few thousand enthusiasts around the
country. Ask almost any person in the street who Yukiya Arashiro is and they
will have no idea. Yet there is no doubt that this is changing, little by little
- certainly, with every passing year, we can see more and more cyclists on the
road.
In the rest of Asia, road racing is becoming more and more popular, with
several nations now holding vibrant national tours, the Tour of Langkawi in
particular attracting the attention of some European ProTour teams. China, with
is recent economic growth and massive population, should see an explosion in the
popularity of the sport very soon. In general, the Asian scene is extremely
promising.
But what about that other giant continent, Africa? How is cycling perceived
there? What is the current state of the sport, and where is road racing heading
there?
Team Medscheme pro cyclist and freelance journalist, South African Nicholas
White, explains the situation:
The bicycle is often used throughout Africa as a basic mode of transport, but
what of bike racing on the continent, and in particular, South Africa? What is
the state of cycling in the country, nearly 100 years after the last South
African cyclist won an olympic gold medal on the road?
When Rudolf Lewis won the individual time trial for men in Stockholm Sweden
in 1912 in a time of 10 hours and 42 minutes, and 39 seconds nearly 10 minutes
faster than the second placed rider, a Briton, no-one would have thought that in
2010, we would still be waiting for a second...
Editors note: Rudolf "Okey" Lewis won the gold medal in the inaugural 196.0
miles (315.385 kilometres) - 123 amateur competitors from 16 nations. Brit
Frederick Grubb claimed silver and American Carl Schutte won bronze. The
UCI World Championships did not start until 1927.)
Cycling is considered a European sport, but has spread worldwide and is
successful in many countries. But what of Africa?
In North Africa, the Arab nations have a solid culture of cycling, certainly
from the French influences that they had endured (an inheritance of the French
colonial period?) , and they have fashioned many races modeled on the Tour de
France. The foremost of these, the Tour de Maroc, is possibly the most
competitive tour in North Africa.
For this reason, Morocco stands second on the UCI Africa tour ranking behind
South Africa by a few points (despite having no riders at the Pro Tour level of
the sport). Morocco has their Government Olympic Committee funding their
National team which takes part in most UCI classified races in Africa. The
Moroccans are hoping for places at the next Olympics, and are hungrily gobbling
up points that are available in their continent.
In many other countries further south they have existing multi day tours or
stage races, which are registered with the UCI. Races such as: Tropicale Amissa
Bongo, Tour du Faso, Tour du Mali, Tour du Cameroon, Tour of Rwanda, Tour
Eritrea, and Tour of Libya. There were also tours in Algeria, Egypt, Senegal,
Ivory Coast, perhaps still taking place, but not registered this year, or having
difficulties in staging them.
South Africa is notably absent from the current list. They are the top ranked
nation in Africa at present, with a huge number of recreational cyclists and a
number of their top riders race at the Pro Tour level.
So why is South Africa missing from the UCI calendar of events? Not one race
on the UCI Africa Tour, despite their position as a wealthy African country with
an apparent culture for cycling. The reason that the country lies first on the
list of rankings in Africa is that they gain most of their points via teams and
riders racing in the rest of the world. The only local race of international
recognition is the South African Championships.
South Africa is notably absent from the current list, holding no UCI
sanctioned races. They are the top ranked nation in Africa at present, with a
huge number of recreational cyclists and a number of their top riders racing at
the Pro Tour level. The reason that the country lies first on the list of
rankings in Africa is that they gain most of their points via teams and riders
racing in the rest of the world.
The top South African riders get their exposure and race condition from their
national 'fun' rides, or Gran Fondo type races. Cycling has developed in South
africa into a mass participation sport, with the top level riders racing at the
head of these events. However there are limitations to these races.
They are usually governed to 100 km distances, in order to relate to the
largest mass participation event in SA, the Cape Cycle 'Tour' which is 105 km
long, and all the other 'big' races in the country serve as qualifying events so
that the masses can get good seeding times for the Cape Cycle ‘Tour'. This form
of racing is perhaps unique to South Africa, where all sorts of people race -
from veteran categories, to juniors, to women, and then the normal seeded
groups. Everyone racing for a good time, or position in their bunch. That is the
reason that some of the races attract thousands of cyclists. That is all great,
but looking at the sport from a professional perspective as an Olympic sport, it
just doesn't produce the level required to become world beaters.
South African riders have to race abroad to gain UCI points for the ranking
of their country. Fortunately there are a few individuals who have made places
and reputations for themselves at the top level. As mentioned, Robert Hunter
(Garmin -
Transitions) is a previous stage winner of the Tour de France is the most
accomplished SA rider, then Daryl Impey (Team Radioshack), John - Lee Augustyn
(SKY), Jay Thompson and Darren Lill (Fly V Australia) make up the top SA pro's
riding for international teams.
The thing that keeps the local level of South Africans good are the domestic
teams which the riders are fortunate enough to have. Continental team MTN, then
the likes of Team Medscheme, House of Paint, DCM and EMG make up most of the
teams that race consistently at all of the road races around the country. They
also give their riders some opportunities to compete internationally in UCI
ranked races, which, in turn helps to earn points for their country's world
ranking.
There are though certain initiatives in SA which are helping develop young
riders and give them the exposure that they need to grow in cycling. There is a
National Academy sponsored by Toyota, which gives the best youngsters, who
aren't yet in the bigger teams, the opportunity to race locally, as well as to
compete in races in Europe to learn the trade. However, his is still a fledgling
operation and has a long way to go to get to the level of what the Australians
have managed to do for at least a decade in Europe.
The National team is also represented by other riders at times, when a
possible race invite arrives, for instance the SA National team rode well at the
Tour de Langkawi, and will also compete in Spain in June. But there is no set
system for these national team excursions, but they occur at random when the
opportunities arise.
One major positive for the continent is the UCI's African Continental Cycling
Centre which is based in South Africa, and takes riders from all over Africa for
training periods of three months, to help them learn to train and race
correctly. This is something which is aimed at improving the level of the sport
throughout Africa. The program is headed by Jean-Pierre and Theresia Van Zyl.
Also a huge initiative in Africa is Project Rwanda. "Project Rwanda was
founded by Tom Ritchey after he visited Rwanda in 2005, out of his passion for
cycling, a love of Rwanda ’s natural beauty, and the inspiring stories of hope
of the Rwandan people. Tom’s trip resulted in a realization that the
bicycle can be an important tool in rebuilding a country, building national
pride and addressing local issues facing Rwanda and other African nations."
Their quest is: "Project Rwanda is committed to furthering the economic
development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and
symbol of hope."
The cycling Team Rwanda is part of this and headed up by Jock Boyer (the
first American to compete in the Tour de France), through his passion and
commitment they have developed some fine cyclists and are poised to host the
Continental Championships in November along with the Tour of Rwanda, for the
second time a UCI classified event.
Further east, ‘Safari Simbaz’ is a Kenyan NGO (Trust) founded by Kenya's
number one professional cyclist, David Kinjah. Kinjah spent a year previously
with the Index Alexia team in Italy, in 2003, and has since made a good name for
himself on his performances at the ABSA Cape-Epic.
The ‘SafariSimbaz' main objectives are to train and coach Kenyan youth to
become professional cyclists and to promote cycling in Kenya.
"I want to develop young boys and girls through professional cycling to
enable them to have a sustainable future for themselves, either by being
professional cyclists, mechanics or professional sport events managers,” said
Kinjah. “One of our dreams is to have the first professional cycling team in
Kenya”.
David Kinjah, with his one person NGO, is providing Kenyan teenagers with a
future. He provides them with a home and trains them to become professional
cyclists. He also trains and coaches the kids and teaches them all about bike
mechanics. The youngsters gain confidence and learn how to pursue their own
dreams. Another aim of the SafariSimbaz is to promote cycling in Kenya.
With some of this going on throughout the African continent, questions should
be raised as to why South Africa, as one of the wealthier nations, does not host
a national tour, or in fact any UCI classified events. It is fantastic that they
can hold races with thousands of riders participating, but should there not be a
top standard that is modeled on the sport of racing as the international body
requires?
There is potential in Africa, but the potential has to be taken to the bigger
stage to reach the top level. Other Africans are making a mark in the sport -
Chris Froome previously of Kenya rides forTeam SKY, and Rafaa Chtioui of Tunisia
rides with Acqua e Sapone in Italy - but for a continent with the size,
population and and energy of Africa, the number of riders that are truly
successful at the very highest reaches of the sport are far too few.
Over the fence and on the dirt, however, the mountain biking side of the
sport is looking healthier and healthier each year in SA. The benchmark event is
the ABSA Cape-Epic which is an eight day tour regarded as the 'Tour de France'
of mountain biking, attracting some of the world's top riders, amongst them
current world and Olympic champions. South Africa also boasts World Champion
mountain bikers in their midst, and the administrators of the sport have
undertaken to arrange their local calendar and level of races to suit their
athletes in preparing for the highlights of the international season.
Now that is forward thinking and the reason why their sport is going forward.
This needs to be transferred to road racing, but sifting through the politics
of the sport, and other issues, it may take some time to be realized. For now
road cyclists will rely on their sponsored teams to get them to races of an
international quality, with travel necessary to the rest of Africa, Europe, Asia
and America.
Maybe that will be the only way for there to be a chance of another Olympic
medal, a hundred years after the last...
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