'There is no plan B' for Rwanda World Championships – David Lappartient interview

UCI President David Lappartient is absolute in his answer to whether the UCI has a backup plan for the 2025 World Championships, due to take place in Rwanda in September.

“There is no plan B,” he insisted to Cycling News in the Amahoro Stadium in central Kigali at the launch of the 2025 Tour of Rwanda.

Much has been made in recent weeks about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the BBC, the M23 rebel group has taken control of the city of Goma, with backing from Rwanda but this has been denied, with Rwanda saying they are protecting their border with the DRC.

The United Nations has reported that 3,000 people have been killed in fights between M23 militants and the DRC national army over control of Goma, which is seen as strategically important in the mining and sale of critical minerals and rare earths.

Lappartient made clear that sport should try to remain neutral and not become politicised.

“The UCI World Championships this year in Kigali are incredibly special for us because it will be a unique moment as UCI celebrates its 125-year birthday, so we decided to go to Africa. This was my dream, my goal, when I was elected UCI President and I am proud to say: here we are,” Lappartient said.

Lappartient believes the World Championships will be delivered in the best way, insisting that Rwanda is a well-organised country and safe.

Travelling to Rwanda and competing in the World Championships presents some significant logistical challenges. Yet Lappartient made it clear that he does expect some countries won’t attend. However, he drew comparisons with the recent World Championships in Australia, where cost was prohibitive for several national federations.

“So, because we know it is more expensive to come to central Africa, we are also working with the Rwanda government to bring some more RwandAir flights, and even arrange some charters to be able to bring more athletes, and therefore reduce the eventual cost for them,” Lappartient revealed.

“We know many national federations worldwide will take part in the World Championships. In addition, we want to make sure that all the 54 African nations bring some athletes. Of course, some of them are not going to be at the top level, but to be there is also a strong message that these championships are in Africa, but also for Africa.”

The 25-year reign of Confédération Africaine de Cyclisme African Cycling Confederation president Mohamed Wagih Azzam came to an end last week, with Yao Allah-Kouamé of the Ivory Coast beating him in a close election.

2025 saw over 110 African male and female riders signed by WorldTour or ProTeams and Continental teams.

Lappatient believes the World Championships in Africa will help African Cycling go to the next level.The UCI WCC Regional Development Satellite in Rwanda was inaugurated on Sunday.

“As you say, cycling in Africa is booming, it is growing and we have exceptionally talented riders here in Africa and this will continue,” he said.

“It will continue as we now have better-structured national federations, we have also a clear vision of what we want to do to help them. This is why the World Cycling Centre (WCC) is working hard with these Federations, with CAC, with the different satellites that we now have, and I believe we really can bring forth more riders in the future.”

“We just need to help African athletes ride more. Road cycling is not something you can learn from a book. Of course, if you do the 1km Time Trial you can train on your own all year and go to the World Championships, but on the road, it will never be like this. You need to race, you need to know how to position yourself in the bunch with the wind, you need to know how to feel the sprint.

“Today, if we want African athletes to go to the next level, they must go to Europe because the most important races are in Europe. We want at least to have more races in Africa to help these athletes increase their capabilities, otherwise they will always have to go to Europe. In this case, it will always be a limited number so if we have more races, we have more athletes, so it will continue to grow in Africa. I truly see a bright future in Africa.”

At this moment virtually every African rider at the WorldTour and at ProTeam Continental levels is a graduate of the World Cycling Centre in Paarl (South Africa) – a training hub run for many years by Jean-Pierre “JP” van Zyl, who reports to Jacques Landry, the overall WCC Director, based in Aigle.

In July 2024, Biniam Girmay won three stages at the Tour de France and won the green points jersey in Paris, making him the first Black African to be on the Tour de France podium. Girmay is a graduate of the UCI World Cycling Centre.

“I felt so proud because he came from the World Cycling Centre, where he spent two years and now Biniam is one of the top riders in the world,” Lappartient said.

“He has now won stages in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. He can potentially also be the first African world champion, maybe not this year [in Rwanda] because it’s too hilly for him, but why not in 2026 Montréal or maybe 2028 in Abu Dhabi?

“That would be a huge achievement and also a message to all of Africa, and worldwide. We were also proud as we had reached a key goal: to help African riders to reach their dreams, but we need to help more and develop more riders.”

“Our sport essentially comes from a background of being for white men from Europe but I was at the African Championships in Kenya and I saw a lot of talented riders. I’m sure these riders, especially the Juniors, will include a future Biniam Girmay or even more, and why not one day to have an African winning the Tour de France? It could be the case.”

Daniyal Matthews – the first South African of colour to win their National Championships this year – is riding this year’s Tour du Rwanda.

Lappartient also talked about the rise of women’s cycling.

“Look at women’s cycling, it is booming. That was also a major focus for us to be delivered, and it is now a reality,” he said.

“If you look at the finish of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, with 1km to go it was impossible to know who was going to win. I think women’s cycling is growing hugely, and as I have observed, diversity is getting better and better in our sport. But we need to continue as we start from far away and we need to continue and sure there will be more talented diverse riders in the future to come, some of them are already coming.”

Lapparitent believes cycling could cement its place as Africa’s second sport behind football (soccer).

“Cycling could really become sport number two, and these World Championships will help. We expect to have one million people on the Saturday, and one million people on the Sunday for the elite races so that will be something really amazing,” he said.

“There are not many other sports able to do this, to bring so many people along the roadside, and I am sure this passion, this enthusiasm is to be shared across Africa.

“I hope that young kids will have the desire to ride a bike, our mission will be to help them to find a bike, to ride a bike, to start competitions and so on. There are lots of opportunities but we also have a solid tool – the World Cycling Centre – and we will continue to invest a lot in Africa.”