00:00In Kampala, Uganda's capital, cyclist Ronald Yige prepares for a landmark event, the Road Cycling World Championships in Rwanda.
00:08It's the first time in its 104-year history the race is being held in Africa.
00:13For Yige and his club, it's a chance to race alongside idols and transform cycling from a hobby into a professional sport on the continent.
00:22This is so big for the continent and it's so big for Rwanda as a country.
00:28And as neighbors of Uganda, we are at an advantage because it's going to attract a lot of people and many of them.
00:43And Uganda will benefit in the way that most of the people that are going to attend the championships will pass by Uganda for maybe tourism because we have a lot of tourism attractions here.
00:55For Aziz Sempija, a teammate of Yige's, the championship is not just a national pride.
01:02It is also a platform to display his talent for an international audience with the goal of securing a professional career abroad.
01:11We Africans also need to give a good performance so that Europeans will know that Africans can cycle.
01:16Often these championships are held in European countries where we cannot go because we lack support from our governments.
01:24But now that it is in Rwanda, we can even take a bus to get to Rwanda.
01:31Across Africa, cyclists compete on vintage bikes against costly professional gear, yet remain fiercely determined.
01:38But the sport is growing in popularity fueled by local races.
01:42When young people see, they get interested and inspired.
01:48So it's a good thing. It is going to attract more young stars into cycling.
01:55If at all the players do their role, what I mean, the governing body of cycling plays its role here and of course supported by the government.
02:08Because if they don't play their role, you won't see cycling prosper.
02:13This landmark event reaching a global audience of 300 million, not only crowns world champions,
02:19but marks a triumphant moment for African sport, showcasing Rwanda's ambitious rise to the world stage.
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