{"id":55775,"date":"2025-09-28T10:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T10:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/uci-president-the-cycling-family-has-fallen-in-love-with-rwanda\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T15:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T15:12:55","slug":"uci-president-the-cycling-family-has-fallen-in-love-with-rwanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/uci-president-the-cycling-family-has-fallen-in-love-with-rwanda\/","title":{"rendered":"UCI president: \u201cThe cycling family has fallen in love with Rwanda\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Addressing President Paul Kagame, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, and international delegates, Lappartient said the 2025 edition in Kigali had exceeded all expectations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis week in Kigali has not just met our expectations. It has, of course, done more than that. It has taken our breath away,\u201d he said. \u201cIn love with its countryside, in love with its people, in love with its beauty, in love with its vitality \u2014 we will never forget your country\u2019s welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The UCI President hailed the historic significance of this year\u2019s championships, the first to be hosted in Africa. He highlighted two milestones: the debut of dedicated women\u2019s under-23 races and the crowning of 12 world champions before Sunday\u2019s men\u2019s elite road race. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuite simply, we have never experienced an event like this before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In recognition of Rwanda\u2019s role, Lappartient presented President Kagame with a framed rainbow jersey and the UCI Order, the federation\u2019s highest distinction. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the highest award given to people who make an outstanding impact on the sport of cycling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>President Kagame, in his own remarks, welcomed the honour and congratulated Lappartient on his election as UCI President. He also acknowledged the warm presence of Prince Albert II of Monaco. <\/p>\n<p>With humour, Kagame noted the symbolic value of the gift: \u201cSo, for me, I won\u2019t necessarily have to participate in the competition. I have more or less already won.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The President emphasised the unifying power of sport and its role in inspiring Africa\u2019s youth. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe chants, the crowds, and the smiles are a true testament to the unifying power of sports,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor our young and talented people, this is an inspiration for them to follow their own dreams with a spirit of sacrifice and endurance, like true champions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that investment in sports across the continent is part of investing in Africa\u2019s future. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all comes down to giving everyone a fair chance, not out of sympathy, but because everyone has something good to give back and because the sport is stronger for it,\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n<p>As the evening drew to a close, both leaders praised the organisers, the Rwandan Cycling Federation, and hundreds of volunteers whose smiles and energy were credited for much of the event\u2019s success.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 UCI Road World Championships conclude on Sunday with the highly anticipated men\u2019s elite road race, set to feature some of the world\u2019s top riders in what promises to be a historic finale.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95287 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01485_1-a35a2.jpg\" alt=\"Addressing President Paul Kagame, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, and international delegates, Lappartient said the 2025 edition in Kigali had exceeded all expectations.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95291 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g14ermvwkaeptyk-2.jpg\" alt=\"In recognition of Rwanda\u2019s role, Lappartient presented President Kagame with a framed rainbow jersey and the UCI Order, the federation\u2019s highest distinction. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95292 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g13-zs4xsaahleo-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95286 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01442-5fdf9.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95285 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01574-ddbd8.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95290 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g13-4awxcaaabuz-2.jpg\" alt=\"The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) capped a historic week in Kigali with a gala dinner on Saturday evening.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95289 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01440-55bdf.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95288 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01446-de806.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95284 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/dsc01556-2188c.jpg\" alt=\"President Kagame, in his own remarks, welcomed the honour and congratulated Lappartient on his election as UCI President. He also acknowledged the warm presence of Prince Albert II of Monaco. \" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President David Lappartient declared Rwanda the heart of global cycling on Saturday evening, telling guests at the Road World Championships gala dinner that \u201cthe cycling family has fallen in love with Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000095293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000095293,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mixcollage-28-sep-2025-09-48-am-6356.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000095293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55775"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55775"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}