Last but not defeated: Uganda's Charles Kagimu reflects on his Olympic experience: "I'm really happy that I managed to finish the race"
Cycling
More than half an hour after Remco Evenepoel and all the big names, the last rider on the course of Olympic Games road race reached the finish line. Regardless of his timelag of the winner, Ugandan hero Charles Kagimu received a warm round of applause from the crowds under Eiffel Tower, making it an unforgettable experience for the African.
"I was at the front for almost 190km," Kagimu told Cycling Weekly, recalling the hours he had spent in the breakaway. "It was quite nice to get a head start and also to ride a pace that suited us really well. It's a pity that some of the guys weren't really pushing on, but you know, that's how cycling is. In the end, I'm really happy that I managed to finish the race. I think it’s the longest road race I've ever done," he said. "The race was really, really long."
Read also
The afternoon was made tougher still by a bout of illness he had been fighting for the past week. "After the opening ceremony, I was really sick," Kagimu said. The Ugandan was his country's flagbearer on the boat across the Seine, an opportunity that had him bursting with pride, but also standing unprotected in the rain for hours.
"On Saturday, I literally couldn't get out of bed. We worked really hard to get around, but after such a sickness really close to the race, for sure I lost a lot," he said. Pulling out was never an option for Kagimu. "I had to race," he continued. "There was nothing else to do apart from doing the race, and giving it my all."
It was that attitude, that doggedness, that the crowds by Trocadéro noticed in Kagimu as he came across the line. It had taken him almost seven hours to finish, but finish he did, the only rider to do so from the early breakaway. "It's a huge accomplishment," the Ugandan said. He then posed for a photograph and, riding alongside the tribunes, began his journey back to his hotel.
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 4visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments