Africa Rising

This is an extract from a story I wrote a few years ago, which is quite appropriate for the moment

There’s been a lot of talk in recent years of the imminent coming of a cycling “Messiah”; a black African Tour de France winner, and why not?

Those close to the sport on the “dark continent” predict that this day will come really soon; perhaps within the next 6 years, others are more conservative and err on the 10-12 year side, although many are pundits from outside of the sport, those who perhaps discount or underestimate the current dominance of the English speaking generation of champions, those who have slowly but surely taken an equal control over the reins of the pro peloton alongside the traditional holders of power – the central and southern Europeans.

We’ve also recently looked at the thriving Asian scene, which is also very slowly making an impact on the pro scene, and China will surely explode with talent within the next 10 years or so if thins continue as they are doing.

If crystal ball gazing or wise betting was called for then many would put the full wad on the nose of the Colombians for the foreseeable future of the grand tours, and they are very much already into their “second coming”, one which has a whole lot more depth than the first very successful Colombian era of the 80’s; and let’s not forget the depth of talent dripping through form other regions of South America, a drip which will surely gush with the imminent staging of the Rio Olympics.

What this trend points to is great for the globalisation of cycling, and within a decade or so the results of the major European pro races should see a whole new array of colourful flags flying over the podiums – and there’s no doubt that there will be African flags up there too. 

This does also mean that the whole sport will be a lot more open than it once was, and ever tougher for these aspiring African athletes to make their mark, much as it was for the early the Australian pioneers in Europe.

Just a few months back the pelotons of the NRS and several other local races around the country had something a little different from the norm in their midst - the Kenyan Riders team from deepest Africa.

This group of young and aspiring Kenyan racers had come from the broken dirt roads of the high mountains around Iten in Kenya’s interior to Australia to learn the wider craft of bike racing, something which is very difficult for them to do on home ground as there are so few opportunities to race, let alone against such quality opposition as we have here. 

Being able to make such a journey is well beyond the average Kenyan, both in terms of visa restrictions and of course financially, and for many of the team members it was not only their first time out of Kenya, it was also their first experience of flying. Having an Australian support crew naturally lead them to our shores.

The town of Iten may sound familiar, at least if you’re into distance running; the high plateau around the town has produced more of the worlds top distance runners than anywhere else on earth, and it’s hard to throw your spare inner tube and not hit a world or Olympic champion in this region, although it has yet to produce a champion cyclist.

Kenya has had a small and low key cycling scene for some time, all be it hit and miss and plagued by issues with the national federation. Bikes are an every day part of life in the country, although they are usually the all steel rod-braked Black Mamba variety, which are used as a means of transport, often carrying truck-like payloads from village to village. These bikes are also sometimes raced in “Mamba” only events, which can attract huge crowds.

Back in 2006 former Singaporean photographer and investor Nicolas Leong had just watched the Singapore marathon, which was dominated by Kenyan runners. He couldn’t help thinking that athletic this talent could surely be turned to cycling, Tour de France winning cycling even.

Without too much time for reflection he booked himself a flight to Kenya, following these runners home. His plan was to see just what was “in the water’ that made them so special as runners, and then to try and persuade some of these seemingly “natural borne killer runners” into cyclists, and to eventually take them to the Tour – a possible self admitted mid-life crisis reaction.

Those in the know would call him crazy, yet there is some logic in there – athletically these high-running machines have superb engines and amazing will power; perhaps it is just a case of converting them to bikes.

That was just a grab from a fascinating story, which I hope to tell again in print sometime soon.