UCI urges Tour du Rwanda organizers change race format to attract WorldTour teams

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.

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.

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.