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!

On 29 March 2026, 17-year-old Muhawenimana Rafiki Jonathan won the Rwandan Junior MTB XCO National Championships. This was a great win for this rising young Rwandan star.

However, this journey began twenty years ago, three years before he was born, when his father, the famous Rafiki 'Kiki' Uwimana* joined Adrien Niyonshuti, coach Jonathan 'Jock' Boyer and the original members of the famous Team Rwanda.

Fast forward 20 years, Rafiki's son Jonathan wins the National Champion jersey, is coached by Benin's Salami Avocetien (a protégée of Niyonshuti), supported by Africa Rising Cycling, has a grant from his Virunga Valley Academy school, a bike loaned by Estonian World Tour rider Rein Taaramäe, and was watched proudly by his father.

African cycling development truly 'takes a village' and we than all our donors who made this, and many of our ongoing projects possible. Thank you! To donate, click here!

*If you happen to be visiting Rwanda, Rafiki runs one of the country's best cycle touring companies - you can find out more on his Instagram page.

As a soft spoken, 58kg, diminutive South African, Louis Meintjes has not spent a huge amount of time in the media's eye, preferring his riding and results do the talking.

However he is a rider to whom all aspiring World Tour riders from Africa - and around the world - should pay attention. He has ridden in 20 Grand Tours, including 7 editions of the Tour de France, which is more than any other African rider. His GC 7th in the 2022 edition being a career highlight, among other great results that year.

Now at home in Andorra learning how to parent two new-borns, Louis spoke candidly to us about his journey in the sport; the struggles in his early years trying to make it in Belgium; being motivated by the successes of Robbie Hunter and the late Burry Stander; how he maintained his motivation and belief; the pain of cobbles; riding on the Intermarché - Wanty team and seeing the rise of Biniam Girmay; and his insights for young riders on how to try and make it in cycling.

Thanks to Louis for his truly open and honest discussion through becoming and maintaining a professional cycling career!

In this episode, we had an in-depth chat with Jean-Pierre van Zyl, the Director of the UCI's World Cycling Centre programme in Africa. He is based at the excellent WCC facility in Paarl, South Africa.

JP often avoids the limelight, but has quietly been working with Africa's leading athletes for over two decades. From the big guns like Biniam Girmay and Kim Le Court Pienaar, to the new crop of rising stars like Tsige Kahsay Kiros (CANYON // SRAM zondacrypto Generation) and Nahom Efriem (Team BIKE AID) he has worked with almost every major African cyclist. We wanted to get behind the scenes to see what makes this man tick!

It was a wonderful bonus to then be joined by two of the next generation of young athletes who are at the WCC this month. Hear from Fakudze Nozipho Madiswa - known as Manndi - from Eswatini, and Gift Puteho from Zambia on what the World Cycling Centre means to them and their development.

The CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation women's professional team has been supporting African female rising talent for several years.

In 2026, they have signed two of Africa's most exciting young prospects: Ethiopia's Tsige Kahsay Kiros, and Eritrea's Monalisa Araya. Ahead of this duo from Easy Africa making their debut together on 21 March, we caught up with Beth Durea, a co-owner of the team, to talk about these exciting young athletes, and the structure being built around them to help them succeed.

You can follow CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation on their social media channels on X/Twitter, Instagram and others, and check out their ProCyclingStats page for lots more information as well. Enjoy!

Whilst we were on a trip to Namibia to discuss the creation of a new Virtual Performance Center there for youth development, we took some time to drop in one of Africa's pioneers in professional cycling: Dan "From Nam" Craven.

Since retiring from professional cycling around the world, Dan established Onguza Bicycles, a unique handmade, custom steel bicycle manufacturing company in the heart of Africa.

In this episode of the Africa Rising Cycling Podcast, Dan talks through his history, his inspiration and how the bicycles are made. We hope you enjoy this very special show.

Check out the Onguza Bicycle website for more information, and if you want a steel framed one-of-a-kind bicycle, contact Dan to discuss. It will be a decision you won't regret.