Whenever you discuss breaking limitations in biking, you not often get to say “first ever” anymore — however Workforce Amani simply earned it. The Kenya-based collective introduced the creation of the primary UCI Ladies’s Continental Biking Workforce from Africa. The powerhouse staff is registered in Ethiopia and powered by riders from Rwanda, Ethiopia, and throughout East Africa. The objective? Nothing wanting the world stage — the Tour de France Femmes, Giro Donne, and La Vuelta Femenina — by 2028.
And if historical past is any indicator, they’ll get there.
Expertise is Common — Alternative Isn’t
Workforce Amani has been rewriting the playbook since its founding in 2020. What started as a small challenge connecting riders from Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda has advanced right into a motion constructed on one perception: the expertise has at all times been right here — the entry hasn’t.
From visa points and sponsorship hurdles to the shortage of elite infrastructure. The trail to the worldwide stage for African riders has been something however direct. Amani’s strategy has been to flip the script — to construct the infrastructure first, proper the place the riders dwell and prepare.
In 5 years, they’ve gone from organizing gravel camps to profitable world occasions and turning heads at UNBOUND and Migration Gravel Race. Now, they’re tackling probably the most bold step but: a girls’s staff constructed to develop, race, and win — from Africa, for Africa.
A New Chapter, Guided by Expertise
Becoming a member of the staff as Mentor and Advisor is none apart from Ashleigh Moolman Pasio — some of the completed African cyclists of all time. A four-time Olympian, a number of nationwide champion, and former top-10 at each the Tour de France Femmes and Giro Donne, Moolman Pasio brings a lifetime of elite expertise and purpose-driven management.
“That is about creating pathways, not passports,” says Moolman Pasio. “Amani is constructing high-performance infrastructure in Africa — the place riders are supported by their very own communities and tradition. I’ve seen the extent of expertise firsthand. The ability numbers are one factor, however the drive and starvation are on one other degree totally.”
Her mission is obvious: to mentor this subsequent technology of African cyclists till they’re shoulder-to-shoulder with one of the best on this planet.
Racing Towards the Dream
The staff’s first season kicks off in Spring 2026, with a European calendar designed to construct expertise and confidence. Every race can be one other step towards the last word goal: lining up on the world’s greatest races by 2028 beneath an all-African flag.
Workforce Amani co-founder Mikel Delagrange calls this a “watershed second.”
“We’ve at all times believed that with the identical assets, our athletes can compete with one of the best. We set a moonshot objective — and it simply so occurs that our girls hit it first. Trailblazers have the exhausting job of reducing the trail, however as soon as it’s paved, many will observe.”
That sentiment echoes throughout the whole lot Amani stands for: this isn’t a charity story — it’s a racing story.
The Begin Traces Are What Matter
The staff’s official launch befell at Rouleur Dwell in London, offered by staff rider Xaverine Nirere and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, alongside a brief movie about Nirere’s journey. Supported by long-time companions Rapha and POC, the launch marks the fifth 12 months Amani has been on the Rouleur Dwell stage — proof that their message continues to resonate.
As Delagrange put it finest:
“We don’t want charity. We want begin strains.”
The dream is daring: to construct the primary all-African staff to not solely race a Grand Tour, however to win one. With this girls’s squad, that dream simply moved from an thought to a countdown.
Africa’s future in girls’s biking isn’t coming — it’s already rolling out of the beginning gate.
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