The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) ( https://AfricaOlympic.com ) are delighted to announce that they have joined forces to develop cycling on the African continent in the lead up to the 2025 UCI Road World Championships to be held in Kigali, Rwanda.A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two bodies aims to ensure that African countries are well represented with strong podium chances at the UCI’s flagship event being held for the first time on the African continent in 2025. It is envisaged that the momentum will be carried on to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and beyond.The MOU was signed at the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland, on Wednesday 25 May, as part of Africa Day celebrations. Several of the UCI WCC’s female trainee athletes from Africa have also gone on to sign contracts with professional teams, and this year the WCC Team, a UCI Women’s Continental Team, has two African members: Ethiopian Selam Amha Gerefiel and South African Maude Le Roux.After signing the MOU, UCI President David Lappartient declared: “When I stated in my Agenda 2022 that I wanted to take the UCI Road World Championships to Africa for the first time, it was part of a wider vision to strengthen our development work on the continent. I am incredibly excited to work alongside the ANOCA to ensure that African athletes will be forces to be reckoned with in Kigali in three years’ time. "“The continent is teaming with talent, and we will make sure that the whole world will be witness to that at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships and beyond.”

Source: Ethiopian News May 31, 2022 16:55 UTC