Kenya Cycling Federation boss Julius Mwangi chats with 2013 Tour de France champion, Christopher Froome at Kip Keino School in Eldoret on November 11, 2013.
What next for Kenya cycling following the death of Julius Mwangi who has been the engine behind the management of the sport for the last 40 years?
“There is no void. Instead we shall continue with our programmes this year, top of the agenda being the Tour of Kenya,” responded the Cycling Federation of Kenya (CFK)Vice chairman Johnson Ciugu.
“Mwangi has been ailing for the last three years but we have continued with our activities and held a successful Africa Cycling Championships in Eldoret last October, a region in which we have always had many cycling events in the last 40 years,” added Ciugu.
“I have been the acting chairman with a very good executive led by our secretary Charles Mose for the last three years as Mwangi’s health became unstable."
Mose said their immediate programme after burying Mwangi is to start preparations for the proposed Tour of Kenya later this year on a date to be confirmed.
“But before that we shall have elections in June after the term of the current office comes to an end. Mwangi has left the cycling scene at crossroads because he was not supposed to seek re-election, but instead vie for a position in the Africa Cycling Federation,” added Mose.
“We are positive that we will be re-elected and continue with our programmes with calendar events lined up such as Mountain Racing (Naru Moro), Africa Gravel Championships (Naivasha), and calendar events at Tatu City, Nakuru, Naivasha, Kakamega, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret,” he said adding that they will start burial arrangements today at St Andrews Church, Nairobi.
“It’s not true that we have overstayed in office. On the contrary we have served in various capacities especially Mwangi who was at one time vice chairman before being elected as chairman in 1992 following the demise of Mohammed Shabadoo.
“I was also the assistant secretary but took over in 2021 from Charles Anyang. We have also met all conditions set in the Sports Act 2013, and that is why we have been operating independently including hosting the Africa Championships last October,” said Mose.
“We have identified an event organiser, Golazo who helped us organise the Eldoret continental championships and hope we will reach an agreement for the Tour of Kenya as Barnaba Korir understands the sports scene well. Korir, the Chairman of Athletics Kenya Nairobi County, is a senior executive of Golazo, a Belgian-based sports and entertainment company which also organises the Kip Keino Classic continental Tour, Sirikwa Cross Country and Nairobi Expressway Marathon.
“The Sports PS Peter Tum is also a good man who means well for cycling and was very helpful in making sure the Eldoret event was a success.”
In Eldoret, Charles Kagimu 26, won the time trial race of the 2024 Africa Continental Cycling Championships held in Eldoret in October and transversed in Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Market counties.
This event marked the return of continental cycling championships in Kenya for the first time in 37 years since the 1987 All Africa Games.
The African Continental Cycling Championships are a series of cycling races held annually in Africa where the African cyclists decide who will be the champion for the year to come.
They have been held since 2001 and the Eldoret championships attracted cyclists from 26 African countries.
Kagimu won the 33.6km men’s elite race by eight seconds ahead of South Africa’s Brandon Downes and Adil El Arbaoui of Morocco in familiar territory in the streets of Eldoret City which he is familiar with as part of the Eliud Kipchoge linked Ineos cycling academy.
Kagimu was the 2024 continental champion and won the African Games earlier this season and also competed in the world championships.
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio of South Africa from the professional AG Insurance-Soudal club won the 104km senior women’s race for the fifth time after 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
The men’s elite race, the class of the field came to the fore once more. Henok Mulubrhan successfully defended his title with an impressive sprint on the final shallow climb to the finish, winning the race for the third time in succession. It’s a 10th title out of the last 13 for Eritrea.
Another South African 20-year-old Emile Van Niekerk finished second behind Mulubrhan and claimed the under-23 title.
Time trial winner Charles Kagimu was third to round off Uganda’s best ever continental championships, with an impressive fifth medal. The very highly rated Milkias Maekele was second in the under-23s for Eritrea, with Rwandan Eric Muhoza in third.
“Hosting the CAC cycling championships in Eldoret is a game-changer for us. The huge awareness it has created will mean more interest in cycling. We expect to see more cyclists coming up, especially in Eldoret and its environs, where athletics is the main sport,” said Mose.
There are suggestions that cycling should honour Mwangi’s long reign by naming the Tour of Kenya after him.
