For a week this September, Rwanda has become the heart of the cycling world. With first-ever cycling World Championships on African soil, many of the biggest stars explored the scenic land whilst competing for rainbow jersey. And while the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel are not likely to return to Rwanda anytime soon, the peloton is returning to the east-African country in less than four months for the Tour du Rwanda.
The traditional eight-day stage race would ideally capitalize on the momentum of 2025 World Championships, however at the moment the 2026 edition doesn't seem to be the blockbuster that would've been expected. The reason? Tour du Rwanda's current position in the UCI calendar.
Currently scheduled to take place over eight days, from February 22nd to March 1st, the race overlaps with the UAE Tour, as well as the Volta ao Algarve, Vuelta a Andalucia, Ardeche classics or the "opening weekend" in Flanders. With most of the big teams running already a triple-schedule, it's impossible to fit in a round-trip to Rwanda for a race of lower category (2.1).
According to SpazioCiclismo's sources, plans to change this unflattering situation are already in place with UCI among the parties working on improvement of the situation. The first step would be to modify the Tour du Rwanda's format with the goal of making the event more streamlined and more attractive to the international calendar and big European teams for which, the negatives of this trip outweigh positives.
Founded in 1988 as a regional competition and becoming a UCI Category 2.1 event in 2009, the event has been relatively successful at attracting professional teams over the years with TotalEnergies, Israel – Premier Tech and Lotto among regular partcipants. WorldTour teams (such as Soudal - Quick-Step, Astana, and UAE) have also taken notice of the event, albeit mostly sending their (still very strong) development teams.
The atmosphere at the 2025 World Championships was electrifying
A leading idea is to shorten the race to just five stages. At the moment, however, preliminary discussions with the various stakeholders are reportedly meeting with rather cool reactions. The major teams, who last year withdrew from the race fearing security concerns due to geopolitical issues, have reportedly shown lukewarm enthusiasm to re-include the Tour du Rwanda to their plans.
The 2025 World Championships marked a historic milestone for the continent. With over a million spectators lining the streets and global media coverage illuminating Rwanda's "thousand hills". The event was a huge success. There was never a better moment to bring a high-quality racing to the region. But the follow-up appears to be fairly limited.
Nobody to pick up the baton
Even ASO, which SpazioCiclismo have learned has at least been consulted on the matter, doesn't seem particularly interested. After lending its expertise primarily to logistics and TV management at the World Championships, the French company still appears to want to prioritize its European and possibly Middle Eastern assets, with which it has had important relationships for a decade.
Alongside the national federation, which currently owns the event, Golazo, a Belgian organizer and partner of the 2025 World Championships, could potentially enter the fray. Golazo is forging increasingly strong ties with Africa, where it has long had an office, in Nairobi, and is opening a new office this year in Kigali. But for now, there's no certainty about this either.
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 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin is wuite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment