Two weeks from now, and 301 days earlier than the UCI Highway World Championships descend on the African continent for the primary time, Jan Bakelants will experience his gravel bike on a seven-day problem in Rwanda. It is not a race, however a cause to boost funds for youth schooling in Rwanda.
In a collaboration with Vélo Afrique and Plan Worldwide Belgium, Bakelants will be a part of two dozen different riders on a supported 431km experience with 7,253 metres of elevation achieve from east Rwanda by volcanic landscapes, crimson grime roads and forests, starting on November 23. The ultimate day in Kigali is predicted to incorporate a section up the Wall of Kigali, a well-known cobbled climb within the UCI stage race Tour du Rwanda that will likely be a part of the 15.1km circuit on the Highway Worlds subsequent September.
For Bakelants, the occasion just isn’t about conquering gravel climbs and crossing volcanic terrain, however championing “truthful schooling for each Rwandan youngster”. Utilizing a web based crowdfunding platform, Bakelants is drawing consideration to enhance truthful schooling for each youngster in Rwanda, particularly younger women, and “assist the development of a brand new faculty”.
“With the World Championships coming in 2025, we need to increase consciousness for the nonetheless susceptible state of affairs by which women dwell on this nation. We all know the important thing to unravel that is correct schooling. The funds raised by the members ought to assist the development of a brand new faculty,” Bakelants, who has switched from highway racing to gravel racing prior to now two years, advised Cyclingnews.
Vélo Afrique arranges for the biking journey, which incorporates tenting every night time. The group makes use of journeys for fundraising initiatives with the non-profit organisation Bonjour Afrique, which coordinates and screens social initiatives in Africa. Plan Worldwide Belgium, the opposite associate on this effort, is a humanitarian organisation that ‘defends equality for women to be able to search a greater future for all kids’.
The gravel problem will likely be Bakelants’ first journey to Africa, after a 15-year professional highway profession resulted in 2022 and he transitioned to gravel pursuits. He had a pair of finishes at Unbound Gravel (14th in 2023) and prime 10s in quite a few UCI Gravel World Collection races, together with Gravel Fondo Limburg and Wörthersee Gravel in 2024.
“This will likely be my first km’s on a motorbike on the African continent. It’s fairly thrilling,” the Belgian stated in a message to Cyclingnews. “I don’t know what to anticipate, how good is the infrastructure, how difficult are the gravel roads, how testing is the local weather? All in all, it’ll give me nice perception into how laborious the 2025 Worlds will likely be for the professionals.
“Organising this World Championships is an enormous occasion for Rwanda to showcase itself to the world. It will possibly additionally create consciousness for issues we may help them enhance with.”
The UCI Highway World Championshipships will happen in Kigali, Rwanda, September 21-28, 2025. Bakelants, a WorldTour veteran with 15 Grand Tour appearances, competed in 5 highway world championships throughout his highway profession, and now has one look on the UCI Gravel World Championships, ending twenty first in 2023. Now 38 years outdated and with fewer race days on the gravel circuit, he has time for philanthropic pursuits.
“Since I finished [road racing], it has been a yearly factor to boost funds and create consciousness for good causes. Final 12 months I cycled from north to south by Sri Lanka in 18 hours, along with Piotr Havik. We did this to boost funds for the Liv Basis,” he added.
Rwanda has hosted a multi-day UCI stage race since 2009, which has grown to draw ProTeams and nationwide groups from across the globe. This previous season the nation was scheduled to host their first UCI Gravel World Collection race, Gorilla Gravel, in June.
The qualifier for the UCI Gravel World Championships was billed as the toughest problem on the calendar, with a 108km course and a pair of,685 metres of climbing. Nonetheless, the occasion was cancelled attributable to “too many circumstances that made it unimaginable to run the race” and the occasion has been rescheduled for June 7, 2025.
Bakelants departs for Rwanda in two weeks, the journey happening November 23-30, however his crowdsourcing efforts are underway on-line, with contributions accepted for the following month.
