We were out of budget early this year and sponsoring had not come through like last year so we were picking our races carefully. The important Continental Championships were not on our calendar, even though Rwanda placed 4th last year in Cameroon with a 7th place finish by Abraham Ruhumuriza. A request to the Sports Ministry had been made but we had not received any response by the time we needed to register.

It was then that Kevin Cusack from the Project Rwanda board got notification from Dick and Betsy De Vos that they wanted to support the team until the end of the year! Wow perfect timing for this incredible gift.

I had more good news. Time France donated a carbon bike frame to the team and the Bouygues Telecom Continental Pro team run by my old teammate Jean Rene Bernadeau lent us a Pro mechanic, Vincent Poulain and was able to give us enough bike parts to build up the new bike frame along with more spares we could take back to Rwanda!

I called our logistics manager Sarah Pedersen and she was able to make time in her schedule to assist us at the race. This was an important race and we needed to make sure the riders had everything in place for the event.
The team consisted of: Adrien Niyonshuti, Abraham Ruhumuriza, Nathan Byukusenge

Glitches are common when preparing for races in Africa and for these Continental Championships it was the visas that were the big issue. The organizing committee said that the visas would be at the airport in Casablanca ready for us upon our arrival. We as Americans did not need visas, but for the Rwandans, this was a problem. In order for the airlines and the emigration in Rwanda to allow the riders to board the plane they needed an official document stating that the visas for them indeed would be waiting for them at the airport. I had started 45 days earlier requesting this document from the Moroccan Cycling federation. Time was running out, I hadn’t gotten confirmations of our hotel accommodations either so I was a bit concerned. Theresia Van Zyl from the UCI training center in South Africa was also sending the same request for many of the other Nations who needed the same document. We only had one day left before the flight and still no confirmation letter… the riders were not going to be able to board the flight without this document.

It finally came about 6 hrs before the flight actually left so the riders were off. Sarah and I were leaving from the States and Vincent was leaving from France, we were all going to converge in Brussels if all went according to plan.

Sarah and I arrived in Brussels and within 15 minutes we found the boys wandering in the departure hall…wow was I relieved and happy to see them, as they were us! Soon we were all on board the next plane en route to Casablanca.

The immigration into Morocco was a bit of an ordeal and took a total of about 2 hrs but all went well and the hotel was perfectly situated on the race course and on the beach!

Only Morocco, Algeria, and Eritrea had the maximum of 8 riders at the start followed by Libya and Egypt with 6 riders. Riders from 14 Nations were at the start, the course was completely flat, 13 laps of 11km/lap for a total of 143 km. It was a loop along the ocean, out and back, the wind would be the only determining factor of selecting the best of the 58 rider field. Team Rwanda would not be favored on this sort of race course and we could only hope that one or more of the riders would be able to get with a breakaway with one of the larger represented countries.

The race started on time, unusual for Africa standards. Both Adrien and Nathan were at the front for the first part of the race. I could tell that the Moroccans, Algerians and the rest of the Northern African nations were doing their utmost to insure a victory by sending riders off the front and not co operating with any of the Sub Saharan nations especially the South Africans with Nic White, the reigning champ. I would learn later that it was next to impossible for the South Africans to do anything in the race, they were marked men.

It was apparent from the beginning that this was not going to be the best day for the riders. Breakaways were going off the front constantly, to get in the winning break was going to be a stroke of luck.

A bit after the half way point the winning break of 16 riders went off the front, no Rwandans were in the group. Soon afterwards Nathan got two flats on the same lap; therefore he would have no chance to catch up. Both Abraham and Niyonshuti were in the diminishing chase group. It was a hard day for our boys. All of us were disappointed as they crossed the finish line, Adrien’s 31st place and Abraham’s 34th place did not represent their actual ability. Dan Craven barely nipped Hassan Zahboune from Morocco at the line to clinch the win for Namibia. Rwanda was the 10th nation over the line. Last year’s 7th place for Abraham and 4th for Rwanda showed how different the races were. I know how important it is that our riders come to these races; the experience is critical for future races so I am glad that we came and participated. The attention the team gets at these races continues to be significant. The fact that Team Rwanda continues to come to international and “Africa Tour” events shows that Rwanda is becoming a serious cycling nation and is here to stay.

Aimable Bayingana the President of the Rwandan Cycling Federation came to this event and attended the UCI (Union Cycliste International) congress held on the evening of November 8th. The Team’s presence also enabled us to talk about the 2009 Tour of Rwanda which will be a part of the UCI calendar. This means that we will have a substantial international field, vital for Rwanda becoming a “Cycling” nation. Every nation expressed interest in participating. Soon Rwanda will have their “National” tour on the International calendar!

Leaving Morocco was no easy task either. Even with the 05:30 departure from the hotel and arriving at the airport 2 hours in advance, this was barely enough time to get the riders checked in. Initially the check in person did not want to let the riders board the plane without “transit visas” for Belgium even though they were not even leaving the airport. When we finally got that resolved we had the “excess baggage” issue to face and it ended up being another $450 that we had not anticipated.

The Team will return briefly to Rwanda before our next race: the 94.7 Pick and Pay in South Africa on November 16.