Wahoo Fitness has confirmed a partnership with Team AMANI, an organisation aiming to make cycling more inclusive.
The partnership is titled ‘Fursa’ meaning ‘Opportunity’ in Swahili. As part of the tie-up, the two organisations will provide one Ugandan and three Kenyan athletes an opportunity to race premier gravel events, including: SBT GRVL, Gravel Worlds, and Vermont Overland in the United States this month.
‘Last year, the organisations ran into unforeseen visa challenges, and were unable to send athletes to compete, making this year even more special to the mission of making cycling more accessible and inclusive.’
Fursa Presented by Wahoo originally kicked off in 2021 with Kenya’s Migration Gravel Race – the first international gravel race held in East Africa. Team AMANI conceptualized this event, which gave athletes from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda access to high-level international competition on their home turf.
“While cycling crowns world and Olympic champions, nearly all have come from Western Europe and North America,” said Mikel Delagrange of Team AMANI.
“In order to create a sport with more opportunity and representation, we want to make sure that the exceptional riders from this currently underrepresented region get the chance to compete against the best in the world.
“These four athletes faced a year-long delay due to unforeseen visa challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve been training harder than ever and are ready for the chance to prove themselves. We’re proud to be able to give them that chance through the ‘Fursa’ program.”
Team AMANI collaborated with the Wahoo Sports Science team to help each athlete with advanced preparation ahead of the event. Wahoo’s team had athletes perform a series of fitness/performance-related tests using the Sufferfest (now Wahoo X) software on their respective Wahoo KICKRs.
From there, Wahoo specialists met with each country’s coaches to help provide personalised training guidance and recommendations going into the Mitigation Gravel Race. Following that race, the top-four athletes were selected to take their talents to the next level.
“It’s an honour for our team to be able to assist these athletes in their journey to these premier gravel events,” said Neal Henderson, head of Wahoo Sports Science.
“We have been there through it all – from helping to train athletes ahead of the Migration Gravel Race, to continuing to provide expert insights and recommendations in the 15 months since. It’s been an opportunity for our team to show the value in sports science, all while helping four athletes reach their full potential. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish from here.”
The four athletes heading to the United States to compete this month are Sule Kangangi, John Kariuki, Nancy Akinyi from Kenya and Jordan Schleck from Uganda.
Following these races, Wahoo will release a documentary on Team AMANIi and the American Gravel race series, in October 2022, so the international cycling community can follow the journey the riders have been on.
www.WahooFitness.com
www.teamamani.com
