Africa Rising Cycling Podcast

With the 2026 Tour du Rwanda starting on Sunday, Jeremy and Kim take a deep dive into the key facts, riders and data points for the 18th edition of the race! (Very much fuelled by ProCyclingStats data!) We look at the dominance of Eritrea in this race since its elevation to the UCI 2.1 level, with race winners like Henok Mulubrhan and Merhawi Kudus there to make it count. Alongside them, young talent like Awet Aman on Team Istanbul and Yoel Habteab on Team BIKE AID all looking for a good result.Kim shares some history of the race as well as a fascinating story of former UCI President Pat McQuaid getting involved; the brilliant efforts of Team BIKE AID and their #rideforafrica jersey initiative; some young guns on Team Amani who will be hoping to show their chops; Africa's newest pro team: Tshenolo Pro Cycling; and finally our picks for the win!The race will be broadcast live on YouTube so make sure you tune in!

In our latest episode, we are joined by two very important actors in the world of cycling, and with whom we at Africa Rising Cycling have worked for many years: Jacques Landry and Jean-Pierre van Zyl (JP as he is known) from the UCI’s World Cycling Center (WCC). Jacques is based in Aigle in Switzerland and JP in Paarl in South Africa. Jacques leads the work of the WCC globally, with JP on point for all things Africa. We talked to them about the work of the WCC; the story of how the UCI Cycling World Championships finally made it to Africa; some of the incredible athletes they have worked with like Adrien Niyonshuti, Biniam Girmay, Kim Le Court, and the next generation like Tsige Kahsay Kiros; what the WCC is up to next; and what more the 54 African cycling federations can be doing to help young athletes. It is a packed episode, we hope you enjoy!

In our latest episode, we talked to Alex Carera, one of the key athlete managers in the world of cycling, known as the 'super agent' to many!He founded the A&J All Sports agency in 1997 which looks after star riders like Tadej Pogacar, Biniam Girmay and Henok Mulubrhan. More recently, we worked with Alex to help Tsige Kahsay Kiros (Ethiopia) secure a three year deal with the CANYON // SRAM zondacrypto Generation team.Alex talks through his career; his work with Biniam and Henok; what it takes to be a successful agent; and his tips for young African athletes on how to make it in the world of cycling!

The Re-Cycle Charity provide young people across Africa with access to a quality used bicycle.​They refurbish quality used bicycles in the UK and ship them regularly to seven projects across Africa, providing access to income, education, wellbeing, and creating long lasting improvement to livelihoods in Africa.We spoke with Charlotte Ward, Re-Cycle's Executive Director, about their mission, their history and their impact. It is a truly incredible project, supported by big brands such as Halfords -  the UK's leading provider of cycling, motoring services, vehicle servicing and repair services.We here at Africa Rising Cycling recently worked closely with Re-Cycle to distribute a large volume of unused cycling clothing, shoes and helmets donated by Rapha UK. Pictured is one of the recipients of this fantastic equipment.To find out more about Re-Cycle, please do visit their website and make a donation to help their work!

Welcome to the latest episode of the Africa Rising Cycling podcast! Join us as we speak to Stefan de Bod and Byron Munton, two South African pro cyclists who have joined the newly launched Modern Adventure Pro Cycling team. The Modern Adventure Pro Cycling team was co-founded by George and Rich Hincapie, and is aiming to hit the pro cycling scene hard in 2026, with a strong squad of US, South African and other nations.Stefan (29) has been racing on pro teams since his debut in 2016 on the Dimension Data for Qhubeka devo team, and has raced at the World Tour level since 2019.Byron (27) has stepped up to the Pro Conti level for the first time in 2026, so is looking forward to this new challenge.Byron also races for a different reason. In January 2024 his sister Jessie was left with severe brain damage after a collision with a drunk driver. Byron dedicated all his podiums to her, and raises funds to help her treatment. You can find out more on the dedicated Instagram account for Jessie's Recovery. There, if you are able to, you can make a donation to help Jessie's recovery. For South Africa, click HERE, for anywhere else, click HERE.

Tshenolo Pro Cycling is a new UCI Continental Team from Africa for the 2026 season. Established only a year ago as a club team in South Africa, and after huge success at the UCI 2.2 Tour of Benin on a wildcard entry, the team - based out of Pretoria -decided to register with the UCI and begin to build something.'Tshenolo' means 'revelation' in Setswana, and as the first UCI team out of South Africa in a good while, they hope to be a revelation in world cycling! With a good calendar in place for the first half of the year, the South African nations in early Feb, and Tour du Rwanda at the end of February, we hope to see big things from this exciting team. Rumours of a Women's Continental Team registration for 2027 are also hot off the press.On this podcast, we talk to Thabiso Rengane (Team Manager) and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Road Captain) about the journey so far, and their dreams for the team. We hope you enjoy this podcast! Please also check out this article we wrote about them for CyclingNews, and give Tshenolo a follow on their Instagram as well for all their latest news and developments.

African cycling history was made today. The roster for the first professional women’s cycling team with FIVE riders from across all four corners of Africa was announced today on ProCyclingStats! The five women on the UCI Continental level World Cycling Centre Team are from Algeria, Benin*, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Rwanda (* Georgette is Benin’s first ever pro cyclist!)To react to the news and discuss this, we have two guesttonight who know all these women very well. Firstly, Shannon Porthault, the Co-founder of the Rwanda Bookmobilecharity and very active supporter of the Ndabaga Women’s Cycling Team in Rwanda. You can find out more about the Ndabaga women's team HEREShe is joined by Kimberly Coats, the CEO of Africa Rising Cycling, and a regular commentator on African women's cycling. Africa Rising Cycling has a dedicated news-wire for all things African women's cycling, which you can see HEREYou can see more details on the whole WCC Team squad on the ProCyclingStats website: LINK

In this episode, we talk to Ross Burrage, the co-founder of the Masaka Cycling Club Foundation (MCC) in Uganda.MCC focuses on helping young Ugandan men and women become highly skilled young cyclists, with the dream of them getting their shot at going professional. Already one graduate of MCC has had a pro contract with an international team, with more to come!Ross co-founded MCC with Miiro Michael, who is based in Uganda and oversees all operations there domestically. MCC runs a blend of Zwift-based and IRL training and coaching, as Ross explains, with a dedicated team of volunteers. They are very active on social media so do give them a follow.MCC is 100% funded by donations from cycling fans around the world. They are hoping to get 500 fans to regularly donate to fund their efforts, so please do hit this link and join the several hundred of like-minded individuals supporting Masaka! Link below:Donate to the Masaka Cycling Club — Masaka Cycling Club

In this episode of the Africa Rising Cycling podcast, we share a recent interview with did with the BBC World Service's NewsDay programme about some exciting African rider transfers for 2026, as well as a preview of the UCI Africa Tour racing calendar.Check out our 2026 UCI race and results tracker on our website here: https://teamafricarising.org/2026-africa-uci-calendar/