Former UCI World Cycling Centre trainee Daniel Teklehaimanot continues to make history by becoming the first black African rider to wear the polka dot best climber’s jersey in the Tour de France.
The 26-year-old Eritrean pulled on the King of the Mountains jersey at the end of stage 6 yesterday after conquering three category 4 climbs at the forefront of a three-rider breakaway.
“It is a big step for African cycling and I feel really proud at the moment because I have this jersey,” he said. “I am proud to be African and I am proud to be Eritrean. This is a day I will never forget.”
Teklehaimanot was a trainee road athlete at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, from 2009 to 2011, and quickly put in impressive performances at in the UCI Under-23 Nations Cup. His coach at the UCI WCC at the time, Michel Thèze, recalled the surprise of certain announcers who had to ask him where Eritrea was and how was it possible that this lanky young African was rivalling Europe’s best up-and-coming cyclists.
Teklehaimanot again made headlines on graduating from the Centre when he signed a two-year professional contract with GreenEdge for 2012-2013. Last year he joined UCI Professional Continental Team MTN-Qhubeka, the first African-registered team to be invited to ride the Tour de France.
MTN-Qhubeka includes other exceptional African riders who have also gone through the UCI World Cycling Centre’s training programme. The UCI WCC’s African satellite centre in Potchefstroom, South Africa, detects and trains talented riders on the continent, then sends the most promising to the UCI WCC in Aigle, Switzerland. Another former trainee, Kudus Merhawi (Eritrea), is also riding the Tour de France this year.
In total, the UCI WCC has five former trainees competing in this year’s Tour de France; Teklehaimanot, Merhawi, Chris Froome (Great Britain), Eduardo Sepulveda (Argentina) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania).
Another 11 former trainees are riding in the 2015 UCI WorldTour..
UCI World Cycling Centre Director Frédéric Magné said that Daniel Teklehaimanot was a shining example of the Centre’s work to develop cycling worldwide.
“Daniel is an incredible athlete who is showing the world just how strong African cycling can be,” he said. “When he was training with us in Aigle he already stood out as an extraordinarily talented, hard-working and yet humble athlete. He was destined for great things and we are proud to see how he is succeeding as a professional rider.”