Rwanda was on Friday announced as the hosts of the 2025 UCI Road World Cycling Championships, becoming the first African country to organise the world’s biggest cycling event since its inception in 1921.
The announcement was made in Louvain, Belgium, after the country won the hosting rights for the world’s most prestigious cycling event.
Louvain is currently hosting the 2021 edition of the tournament which concludes on Sunday, September 26.
Times Sport looks at important chronicles that shaped the country’s journey to winning the bid to host the tournament.
Rwanda submits bid
The journey started in September 2019 when former Ferwacy president Aimable Bayingana, and then Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Sports and Culture, John Ntigengwa, travelled to the International Cycling Union (UCI) headquarters in Switzerland to formally submit the bid.
The bid was motivated by the fact that UCI President David Lappartient confirmed that the 2025 edition of the Road World Championship would be hosted by an African country.
Their bid was contested by Morocco for the hosting rights after the latter also showed their interest to host the tournament days after UCI made the development that Africa was the next destination for the race.
Final inspection by UCI
A UCI inspection team was in Kigali in June to assess whether Rwanda fulfills all the requirements needed to host the tournament compared to what the national cycling federation (Ferwacy) mentioned in its official document bidding to host the tournament.
During the visit, the team visited hotels expected to accommodate the delegates during the tournament and Rwanda’s cycling itineraries and met Sports Minister Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju before concluding their inspection.
The outcomes of the visit put Rwanda in a pole position to win the bid against the Moroccans, after the inspection team was impressed by what they observed on the ground.
"They were impressed with the fact that what they found on ground pretty matches what was mentioned in the document submitted to UCI bidding to host the tournament and told us that it increased our chances of winning the bid to host the tournament,” Murenzi told this publication last week.
Signing pre-contract
Murenzi knew that Rwanda was in pole position in the race last week after he signed a contract of agreement with UCI before the winner was announced on Friday in Louvain, Belgium.
"We reached the stage of signing a contract. We filed our final document and we agreed on every detail of the contract,” he told this publication last week.
Besides the contract, he felt the chances to win the bid were at the time pretty high given the fact that Morocco were not as keen to host the race recently.
Rwanda wins race
On Thursday morning, Ferwacy president Murenzi confirmed the development saying that Rwanda won the race against the Moroccans who have recently not been as keen to host the tournament as they were from the beginning.
He said that credit goes first to the government which has tirelessly backed the federation’s push to host the tournament at all costs, from the day Rwanda announced its bid to host the Road World Championships.
The official announcement is expected to be attended by Sports Minister Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju.