Wooden Bike Classic and Tour of Rwanda 2009 to be set for the END OF NOVEMBER
"Amazing potential for an international UCI event"
Tour of Rwanda 2008
The Tour of Rwanda 2008 organized by FERWACY (the Rwandan Cycling Federation) was a complete step up from last year’s event. The foreign teams were provided support vehicles in addition to food and lodging. The results were quickly tallied with each team receiving electronic copies daily. There were no accidents of any gravity and the police control and escorts were impressive. Indeed I was impressed by this year’s Tour, especially after last year’s event that was poorly organized. The new blood at the Federation has proved itself and they have been a real pleasure to work with throughout the year.
The “Permanent Secretary” Jean Pierre Karabaranga of the Ministry of Sports and Culture was impressed with the event but wanted to take it a notch higher for the coming year. The message was conveyed that Rwanda wanted to have an international caliber race where people would come from all over the world to participate and to experience the “new Rwanda”.
Tour of Rwanda 2008
The federation president Aimable Bayingana and I put our heads together and went over what needed to happen. I contacted a friend, Olivier Grandjean, from the company GSO who organizes races in Europe and Africa. Recently they organized the Continental Championships in Morocco, the Tour of Cameroon, the Peace Race in Ivory Coast and many others. They have extensive experience organizing races in Africa and are a natural choice for our event.
Olivier was available and excited at the opportunity to come to Rwanda! He had been seeing Team Rwanda at the events for over a year now, heard me talk about the Team constantly was excited to see what I was really talking about. He offered to come at no charge as long as we paid for his airfare and lodging in Rwanda. The dates were set, he would arrive Nov 25 and depart Dec 2, we had 6 days to see all the existing stages of the Tour of Rwanda, meet with the government, plot the routes with a GPS and make a plan to go forward
During the week of Olivier’s visit, the weather was spectacular; we could not have picked better conditions. With each stage covered, Oliver was amazed at not only the mountainous terrain, but the welcoming people, the condition of the paved roads and the cleanliness of the country. Rwanda did not fit into the African “norm” in his experience! Immediately Olivier saw that this country had an amazing potential for an international event.
The race courses were covered; we drove 1200 miles in 5 days. Oliver saw a Rwanda that few people see. We were welcomed by riders at their homes; we visited the Team Rwanda Jatropha plantation. He met riders at the Team Rwanda house and saw the training rides - it was a full-on Rwandan “experience”. He was blown away at how far cycling has come in the incredibly short time we have been at it. His enthusiasm just made me realize even more the potential that is dormant here in Rwanda, soon to become the jewel of African cycling.
Next we met with Jean Pierre Karabaranga the “Permanent Secretary” of the Ministry of Sports and Culture. Olivier presented the different stages of the race, the organization, and the social and cultural impact the race will have on Rwanda and on all those that come to see and participate in the race. From the Rwandan Cycling Federation, the President, Aimable Bayingana, VP Festus Bizimana, and General Secretary Thierry Rwabusaza were present. The Federation members provided assurance of a race with full Federation support and emphasis on the importance of the race in Rwanda.
Tour of Rwanda 2008
Each stage will have a meaning and a name. From the tea plantations in the Gisenyi region, to the tour of the Volcanoes in Musanze, Lake Kivu in Kibuye, the coffee plantations in Huye, Akagere Park in the Byumba region to the final time trial going from the Nyanza Genocide memorial to the Nyamata Genocide memorial. This tour would be a statement to what Rwanda is now, emerging from its past to a future of hope.
The event was coming up to the expectations that the Federation and the Government had wanted for years. They not only gave us a green light to proceed to the next step, but said that they had been given the green light from the top, President Kagame, to make cycling a priority in Governmental support. They had tried in the past to encourage the previous Cycling Federation to organize events and support cycling in a way that would make the country proud, but it wasn’t until now under the current Federation that the government could see things were going forward and the present team could accomplish what they had always dreamed!
We all went away from the meeting with a hope and dream turning quickly into a reality. We have a big job to accomplish but I am certain with the group of people we have now, we can make it happen.
