Rwanda is safe and ready to host the UCI Road World Championships, the president of the country’s cycling federation stressed this week, with three months to go until the event.
Scheduled for September, the championships are set to make history as the first to be held in Africa in the UCI’s 125-year existence.
The build-up has been marked by questions of safety, due to an ongoing conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); according to the UN, Rwanda is supporting an armed rebel group fighting against Congolese forces, although Rwandan officials deny this.
The border between the two countries is located around 100 miles from Kigali, the Rwandan capital, where the UCI World Championships will be held this year. Addressing Cycling Weekly in London on Monday, Samson Ndayishimiye, president of the Rwandan Cycling Federation, said there is no need to worry about safety.
“We promised that we’re going to deliver the event to the standard that is expected by the UCI and the cycling world. Now, with just a few months to go down the line, I can definitely confirm that we are where we are supposed to be in terms of organising, and even further up in terms of countries showing interest,” Ndayishimiye said.
“We’re still doing events twice a month. The biggest one we recently did in February was the Tour du Rwanda, and we went everywhere in the country," he continued. "Security wise, we’re good. Any issues of being refused sponsorship because of that, never happened. We’ve never had an issue. For us, where we are, everything is fine.”
In February, the European Parliament called for the cancellation of the Kigali World Championships amid the conflict in the DRC and Rwanda’s alleged role in it. Despite concerns, UCI president David Lappartient said there was “no plan B” for the event, which is expected to go ahead as planned.
“[Lappartient] still believes in Rwanda,” Ndayishimiye said. “He still knows that’s going to happen in Rwanda. We’ve never had any other issue.”
Asked if other cycling federations had voiced safety concerns, the Rwandan cycling president said he had received some phone calls, and had sought to reassure.
“The answers are still the same,” he said. “This is Rwanda. It’s not DRC… We’ve made it clear that we can’t invite you or welcome you if you’re not going to be safe, because we won’t be safe ourselves. It’s been a few months and nothing has come up on that.
“Inside the country, we’re safe,” he further stressed. “For me, most importantly, as the cycling federation, safety is the first thing people have to think about, the priority… We’re already in a safe country.”
Ndayishimiye’s visit to London came the day after he attended the final stage of the Tour of Britain Women in Glasgow. There, he explained, he met with British Cycling representatives, who told him Great Britain would send a squad to the Rwanda World Championships. The Belgian Cycling Federation also confirmed last week their riders would participate in the event.
Other federations, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Ireland, have said they will send reduced squads to Kigali, citing financial constraints.
“That’s the choice of the federation because of the means that they have,” said Ndayishimiye. “Our sport is very expensive. It’s not only expensive because we’re hosting in Africa – it’s expensive across the world, for all of us.”
The East African country expects between 5,000 and 7,000 international visitors to come to the eight-day event in September, which will feature the most challenging road race routes to date – the men’s road race features 5,400m of climbing.
Ndayishimiye hopes the event will be a “good opportunity” for tourism and sport in Rwanda, adding that he’s “counting on” local riders to show their strength against the world’s best. “Who knows, maybe there will be a Rwandan next to [Tadej Pogačar] challenging him more? It’s exciting,” he said.
The 2025 UCI World Championships will run from 21 to 28 September.
