Africa is sometimes not known as a cycling continent. That should change in the next few years. The world association UCI has therefore awarded the 2025 World Cycling Championships to Rwanda, among other things.
The “Tour du Rwanda”, which is currently taking place for the 14th time, shows that the East African country can host cycle races. Until February 27th, drivers and teams from all over the world will be on the 1,000-kilometer route – divided into a time trial and seven stages – around the capital Kigali.
A junior team from North Rhine-Westphalia will also be there: the “Saris Rouvy Sauerland Team” based in Eslohe will be starting with five drivers, three from Sauerland and two from Belgium. After three stages, the team is sixth in the team classification. Team manager Jörg Scherf presented his performances to WDR on Tuesday “extremely satisfied”: “We made a bit of a mistake in the time trial on the first day, but corrected it again on Monday and Tuesday.”
Achievements as a goal
The Sauerlanders had traveled to Rwanda with moderate expectations. “End the tour with everyone and get some respectable successes”Scherf summarized the objective. “In general, we are in the process of building up the season and don’t want to overdo it.”
The team has already celebrated a notable success on the second stage. The Belgian Abram Stockmann was in the lead together with a Brit Leo Hayter for more than 100 kilometers and was only caught by the peloton with 600 meters to go. On the third stage it was Stockmann’s twin brother Michiel who led the field for a long time and finished eighth at the end.
Introduce drivers to professional sport
The Sauerland team is a so-called continental team. So not a pro team, but a team in the third category behind the World Tour and Pro teams. When it was founded in 2015, those responsible made it their mission to develop young drivers and bring them as close as possible to professional sport. The example of Florian Storck showed that this can work. He is now part of the DSM squad for the Tour de France. “After that we always had individual athletes who scratched at a World Tour contract, but unfortunately didn’t get one”said Scherf.
With Jon Knolle (21), the Sauerland team currently has another promising driver in its squad. “He was already on the radar of two World Tour teams last fall. The only thing missing was an international win.”said Scherf. According to Scherf, 18-year-old Max Briese is also “an interesting catch”. He wants to change from a track cyclist to a road cyclist and is now being trained by former professional André Greipel. “He now has two years to show himself. Patient work with youngsters should be rewarded.”said Scherf.
Always looking for longer tours
In order to advance the development of its riders, the Sauerland team also travels to Rwanda for cycle races. “The ‘Tour du Rwanda’ is the biggest stage race in Africa and we are always looking for longer tours. Eight days of cycling in a row helps to develop the racers”said Scherf. “We’ve noticed that in recent years with longer country tours in Japan, Azerbaijan or the Turkey Tour. Such races are worth their weight in gold for us in preparation for this year’s highlights, the German Championship for professionals in Sauerland or the Germany Tour. We may be a junior team, but our racing program is becoming more and more top-class.”
Tours like the one in Rwanda are also valuable for personal development, said Scherf. “Besides the race, of course, you see a lot of new things here. Kigali is a modern, beautiful city. But in the country you can already see a difference to Europe. Problems that we have in Germany are suddenly very small.”
Team Sauerland wants to become a World Tour team
The Sauerland team doesn’t just want to develop its drivers, they also want to climb the ranks themselves. “In the medium term we want to become a pro team, i.e. move into the second international category. In the long term we want to become a World Tour team“, said Scherf. However, other partners and sponsors would have to be found, also beyond the Sauerland. “It’s not an easy path, but we’ll pull through”, so Scherf.
Appearances at international cycling races are supposed to help here – as well as the notable successes at the “Tour du Rwanda”. And maybe one or the other driver will come back to Rwanda for the 2025 World Championship.