Two weeks from now, and 301 days earlier than the UCI Highway World Championships descend on the African continent for the primary time, Jan Bakelants will journey his gravel bike on a seven-day problem in Rwanda. It is not a race, however a cause to boost funds for youth training in Rwanda.
In a collaboration with Vélo Afrique and Plan Worldwide Belgium, Bakelants will be part of two dozen different riders on a supported 431km journey with 7,253 metres of elevation acquire from east Rwanda by volcanic landscapes, pink grime roads and forests, starting on November 23. The ultimate day in Kigali is predicted to incorporate a section up the Wall of Kigali, a well-known cobbled climb within the UCI stage race Tour du Rwanda that might be a part of the 15.1km circuit on the Highway Worlds subsequent September.
For Bakelants, the occasion isn’t about conquering gravel climbs and crossing volcanic terrain, however championing “honest training for each Rwandan youngster”. Utilizing a web based crowdfunding platform, Bakelants is drawing consideration to enhance honest training for each youngster in Rwanda, particularly younger ladies, and “assist the development of a brand new college”.
“With the World Championships coming in 2025, we need to increase consciousness for the nonetheless weak scenario by which ladies reside on this nation. We all know the important thing to resolve that is correct training. The funds raised by the individuals ought to assist the development of a brand new college,” Bakelants, who has switched from highway racing to gravel racing up to now two years, instructed Cyclingnews.
Vélo Afrique arranges for the biking journey, which incorporates tenting every evening. The group makes use of journeys for fundraising initiatives with the non-profit organisation Bonjour Afrique, which coordinates and screens social initiatives in Africa. Plan Worldwide Belgium, the opposite associate on this effort, is a humanitarian organisation that ‘defends equality for ladies in an effort to search a greater future for all kids’.
The gravel problem might be Bakelants’ first journey to Africa, after a 15-year professional highway profession resulted in 2022 and he transitioned to gravel pursuits. He had a pair of finishes at Unbound Gravel (14th in 2023) and high 10s in a lot of UCI Gravel World Sequence races, together with Gravel Fondo Limburg and Wörthersee Gravel in 2024.
“This might be my first km’s on a motorbike on the African continent. It’s fairly thrilling,” the Belgian stated in a message to Cyclingnews. “I do not know what to anticipate, how good is the infrastructure, how difficult are the gravel roads, how testing is the local weather? All in all, it can give me nice perception into how arduous the 2025 Worlds might be for the professionals.
“Organising this World Championships is an enormous occasion for Rwanda to showcase itself to the world. It may possibly additionally create consciousness for issues we may also help them enhance with.”
The UCI Highway World Championshipships will happen in Kigali, Rwanda, September 21-28, 2025. Bakelants, a WorldTour veteran with 15 Grand Tour appearances, competed in 5 highway world championships throughout his highway profession, and now has one look on the UCI Gravel World Championships, ending twenty first in 2023. Now 38 years outdated and with fewer race days on the gravel circuit, he has time for philanthropic pursuits.
“Since I ended [road racing], it has been a yearly factor to boost funds and create consciousness for good causes. Final yr I cycled from north to south by Sri Lanka in 18 hours, along with Piotr Havik. We did this to boost funds for the Liv Basis,” he added.
Rwanda has hosted a multi-day UCI stage race since 2009, which has grown to draw ProTeams and nationwide groups from across the globe. This previous season the nation was scheduled to host their first UCI Gravel World Sequence race, Gorilla Gravel, in June.
The qualifier for the UCI Gravel World Championships was billed as the toughest problem on the calendar, with a 108km course and a couple of,685 metres of climbing. Nevertheless, the occasion was cancelled because of “too many circumstances that made it unimaginable to run the race” and the occasion has been rescheduled for June 7, 2025.
Bakelants departs for Rwanda in two weeks, the journey going down November 23-30, however his crowdsourcing efforts are underway on-line, with contributions accepted for the following month.
