The Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY) has announced that the national cycling team, Team Rwanda Cycling, will start training at the end of March ahead of Tour du Rwanda 2021.

The annual continental cycling contest was initially slated from February 21-28 but was eventually rescheduled from May 2-9 due to the spike in coronavirus cases.

Despite the pandemic, cyclists did not stop training with their respective clubs to maintain their form and fitness.

According to FERWACY president, Abdallah Murenzi, selected cyclists will join the national team’s camp at the end of March to start training together.

"We expect the national team to start intensive training by the end of March. I am sure they will get enough time to train together before the contest begins,” Murenzi told Times Sport.

"Cyclists belong to the clubs and must be training in their respective clubs and then if selected, they can link up in the national team for a two or three-week training camp prior to the competition. So they will keep training with their clubs until they are selected,” he explained.

Fifteen teams confirmed their participation at this year’s Tour du Rwanda and Murenzi revealed that no team has so far pulled out as a result of the tournament’s rescheduling.

Rwanda will be looking to put up a good performance at the forthcoming African Continental Road Championships slated for March 2-6 in Cairo, Egypt to build on a form that could help them win their first-ever Tour du Rwanda since the International Cycling Union (UCI) upgraded it to a 2.1 race category in 2019.

"What we all want is to see a Rwandan win this tournament no matter which team he represents. Last time a Rwandan managed to claim the second spot and I believe the past two editions were enough for our riders to learn how to win this tournament,” he said.

Search for new head coach underway

The coaching role for Team Rwanda Cycling has been vacant since the cycling governing body decided against extending outgoing head coach Magnell Sterling in November last year.

The Cycling governing body was at the time running against the clock to hire a new head coach who would immediately assume his duties to coach the national team at Tour du Rwanda that was scheduled from February 21-21.

However, since the tournament was rescheduled in May, the hiring process slowed down.

Murenzi told this publication that the federation is closely working with the Ministry of Sports on the process of hiring the coach.

 "We proposed technical requirements of the head coach we are looking for. We are waiting for the Ministry’s approval and then we go ahead with the hiring process. We hope he will have been signed before Tour du Rwanda 2021,” he said. 

Among the qualifications that the desired coach must fulfill include being a holder of at least a UCI coaching license, which is equivalent to the professional coaching license in cycling.

The candidate for the coaching role must also be speaking at least English and French and must have previously coached in Africa to ensure he has a background about the state of Cycling on the continent.

Felix Sempoma will, in the meantime, remain the national cycling team’s caretaker till the new head coach is signed.