Why Rwanda is the right host for world cycling championship

In three years, Rwanda will be the first African nation to stage the biggest cycling event on the planet, the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Championship, in 2025, ever since its start in 1921.

Rwanda won the hosting rights for the 2025 edition, after outwitting Morocco.

The UCI is one of the major competitions Rwanda will host after attracting more than seven big continental tournaments in 2021 alone, including Basketball Africa League (BAL), FIBA Afrobasket 2021 tournament, Africa Men’s Volleyball Championship and the Africa Women’s Volleyball Championship.

The year 2022 has also seen Rwanda hosting a couple of sports events including Tour du Rwanda 2022 which was upgraded from a 2.2 to a 2.1 UCI category race, making it Africa’s second biggest race with 2.1 badge, after Gabon’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.

The country also received the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon race and U-18 Africa men’s handball championship in August.

Rwanda is expected to host the UCI ‘Rwanda Epic’, an international mountain bike race, in November. Rwanda will be the second African country to host the 73^rd FIFA Congress in 2023, after South Africa hosted the congress in 2007.

How does Rwanda single handedly host all these sports events?

The answer is quiet simple. It is through the government’s effort in investing in new buildings of world class level such as the BK Arena, the Gahanga Cricket Stadium, well-paved roads, the Kigali Golf Club as well as the outstanding hospitality to visitors that attracts event organisers.

Second, Rwanda’s reputation in high class service in terms of accommodation and transport granted to visitor’s right after arrival precedes itself. This impresses the planners to first choose Rwanda when it comes to event hosting.

Despite the anti-Rwanda elements like Amnesty International, former Human Rights Watch boss, Kenneth Roth, and an imposter Dutch activist, Anneke Verbraeke, that never cease to tarnish the country’s image while raising fictitious information about Rwanda, the country’s security and cleanliness are the cornerstone of what makes it a qualified destination for international sporting competitions.

Commenting on the alleged concerns of awarding a major international event to a country that “violates human rights,” UCI president, David Lappartient, said: “I’ve always said that the subject of human rights is always a major one for us, but I was able to go to Rwanda, I met many Rwandans, and what I saw is a government that has come through a very complicated crisis and has been able now to unite people.”

“When you look at where Rwanda has come from, and where it is now, I think that can only be achieved with true leadership. Sometimes, we shouldn’t look at all the world’s governments through the prism of our strictly European way of doing things. I sincerely believe there is strong support for the authorities in Rwanda, for what they’ve done in terms of health, in terms of cohesion.”

Lappartient made it clear to the impostor human rights activist that good leadership positioned Rwanda to becoming Africa's sports hub few years after its rebirth after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

In less than a decade, Rwanda was recognised as Africa's big events destination. In 2016, Rwanda staged the continental men’s senior football tournament, African nation’s championships (CHAN).

Two years later, it hosted the 2018 CECAFA Women’s Challenge Cup, a regional women’s football tournament that brought together teams from the great lakes region. Later in 2020, the country also hosted CECAFA U17.

Apart from hosting the initial championship of Basketball Africa League (BAL) and FIBA Afrobasket in 2021, Rwanda was given hosting rights for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour Star 2 in Rubavu District in July the same year, the U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier in October and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in November.

Rwanda is investing in developing the right infrastructure for international conferences, sports and concerts. It has also begun to work on upgrading and revamping Amahoro National Stadium, a 1980s-built complex used for football, rugby, concerts and events, to a 45,000 capacity from its current 25,000 which will fit international standards.