Congo Brazzaville national cycling team is set to hold a training camp at the Africa Rising Cycling Centre (ARCC) in Musanze from January 9 in a bid to improve their level of cycling. The Congolese will be led by captain Andrė Tchicaya while others on the team include; Marc Tchicaya, Rufin Bakouetana, Francois Malanda and Roland Tchicaya. The delegation will arrive in Rwanda on January 8 and head to Musanze straight away. In an exclusive interview with Times Sport, Team Rwanda Cycling head of logistics and marketing, Kimberly Coats said, “The team decided to come to ARCC because they wanted to participate in a ‘high-level’ training camp and with Rwanda’s reputation, especially after the recent success at the Tour du Rwanda, it is the closest place to receive this world class training.” This partnership is in line with ARCC’s vision which is to unify African countries through the sport of cycling by building a group of teams and federations all working for the common good, to advance the sport of cycling to give hope to their athletes and countries. Coats further added that, “This is establishing the credibility of the centre for African countries to come and train. We hope to have many more teams taking advantage of the opportunities at ARCC. Burundi and Uganda have expressed interest in attending.” A fortnight leading up to last year’s Tour du Rwanda saw Eritrea and Ethiopia hold training camps at ARCC. The ultimate goal, according to Coats, is to produce a joint pro continental team to represent Africa at elite events including the prestigiousTour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España in Spain to mention but a few. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
