We are excited to announce the formation of the first all-African women’s
UCI team to race professionally for the 2017 season and sustain a
rider development program across the continent.
Team Africa Rising has been working across the African continent for close
to 10 years with our main project being developing the highly successful
Team Rwanda men’s national cycling team which has become a world-renowned
brand in cycling and has now delivered several riders into the pro peloton.
Through our work in Africa, for several years we have been aware of the
rising tide of female cycling talent on the continent.
Kimberly Coats, the team’s Sporting Director, explains: “When I watched the
Olympic women’s road race a few weeks ago and saw so few women from Africa,
I knew it was time. Our goal at Team Africa Rising has always been to raise
the level of cycling in Africa for men and women and when I saw how great
the women were at our recent training camp, I knew we should now put a
marker down and start getting African female talent into the same world. We
firmly believe these women can begin to race against the best talent in the
US, Europe and Asia to demonstrate the potential of African cycling. We
have seen with Team Rwanda how a dedicated, well-run program can flourish
on this continent to allow riders to then go to the international scene and
compete with pride.”
Team Africa Rising will consist of women from Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia
with several cyclists from other countries in consideration. The total
squad will employ 10-12 cyclists and be coached by ex-US pro rider Sterling
Magnell, who has been working with these riders, and Team Rwanda, in recent
years. The team will be based in the US for the first half of 2017, giving
them access to additional coaches, bike technology and cutting edge sports
medicine groups through our partnership with Mission Sports Group.
Our focus, outside of winning, is to inspire women all over the world,
women of color, women from various cultural backgrounds, that they can be
involved in sport and achieve great things.
Kimberly continues, “The sport of cycling for women is growing rapidly and
hopefully sponsors will see the long term potential for supporting women’s
cycling. The women from these countries in Africa will bring a whole new
dynamic to the sport. We must help these women improve their opportunities
and thereby their lives. There were only three women from Africa and not
one woman of color in Rio and we are dedicated to getting nearer ten on the
start-line in Tokyo! It’s time to literally change the face of world
cycling.”
We are actively looking for a lead sponsor for the team and several other
opportunities exist to work with Team Africa Rising in terms of equipment
and support of the team.
Further information on Team Africa Rising can be found here: https://
teamafricarising.org
