In this episode, Kim and Jeremy on our team sat down with Salami Avocetien of the Benin Cycling Federation. At just 21 years old, he speaks French, English, four local languages, has his UCI Level 2 Coaching Qualification (Level 3 will be achieved in one month), made his debut as a DS (Directeur Sportif) at Tour du Benin - accompanied by our CEO Kimberly Coats - for the Benin National Team , heads to the UCI this summer for a 3-month internship, and will complete a Masters degree as well. He is a truly remarkable young man.

With Benin seeing its first rider get a professional contract in 2026 (Georgette Vignonfodo - WCC Women's Team), Salami might be the next biggest thing to come out of cycling in Benin, and across West Africa.

The future for this young man is so bright in our sport. Have a listen to his story...

Two week's ago we featured the father-son Uwimana cycling dynasty in Rwanda, and we now move our focus 3000km to Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia, home of the famous Rogora cycling family!

On this edition of the Africa Rising Cycling Podcast, we talked to 22-year-old Kiya Rogora, a professional cyclist who has already raced around the world for pro teams and for Ethiopia.

Kiya recently launched an exciting new men's road racing team in Ethiopia: JR Pro Cycling. The name brings to life his father's name - Jemal Rogora - an Olympian and one of Ethiopia's most famous cyclists.

Dire Dawa has a long history of cycling prowess, but has recently been somewhat overshadowed by the sheer volume of riders coming from the Tigray region in the north of the country. JR Pro Cycling aims to bring back the pride in Dire Dawa, and maybe become Ethiopia's first ever men's professional UCI team.

Kiya talks through his career, his heroes, the success of the team so far, the challenges, and the hunt for sponsors to join them in the journey. We hope you enjoy!

This weekend, teams from around Africa, Europe and Asia will arrive in Cotonou, on the Atlantic shore of Benin, in the heart of West Africa, for the UCI 2.2 Tour du Bénin!

We sat down with race organiser, President of Bénin Cycling, famous artist and passionate cycling advocate, Romuald Hazoumé, to talk all things Tour du Bénin.

He is one of Africa's leading cycling voices at the national Federation level. He calls out corruption, bad practice and laziness, and promotes equality, women's cycling and how Africa can help itself to develop a better cycling presence.

Romuald talks about the work he has done with Africa Rising Cycling, the development of local coaches and commissaires, the support of Wahoo and Zwift, having David Lappartient come to present the yellow jersey on the first stage this year, and very importantly, his passion for ecology with a special prize each day for the team who are the most responsible for their ecological impact at the race.

We can also no exclusively reveal that two major figures in world cycling will be joining us at the Tour du Bénin: UCI President David Lappartient who will present the yellow jersey at the end of the first stage; and Ned Boulting, one of cycling's most famous journalists, and founder of Never Strays Far - the world's #1 cycling podcast. Ned will be reporting on all things Tour du Bénin and joined us on this podcast to explain his plans. We hope you enjoy!