Elizabeth Mosima
14 February 2006
Over 100 athletes are expected to participate in this year's cycling race.
Organisers have unveiled the itinerary of the 2006 edition of the international cycling tour of Cameroon. The announcement was made last Friday during a press conference at the headquarters of the federation in Yaounde. The press conference was presided over by the President of the Cameroon Cycling Federation, Claude Bernard Messy. The race will kick-off on February 25 and end on March 10. Over 100 athletes from Africa, Europe and Asia are expected to participate in the race which comprises 11 laps with a total distance of 1,440 km. The athletes will be vying for five important titles: the yellow jersey for the leader, the bleu jersey for the best African, the green jersey for the best climber, white for the best youth and the red jersey for the most combative. The race will also sell the image of Cameroon to the world.
Already, 17 teams have confirmed their participation. The African countries are Benin, Senegal, Togo, Gabon, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sao Tomé et Principe, Egypt and Central African Republic. Countries such as Turkey, Central African Republic, Sao Tomé et Principe, will be participating for the first time. The European countries are France, Turkey, Holland, and Belgium. Germany was expected to confirm their participation. Cameroon will present three teams: SNH, woodwork and Douala velo club. Asked why Cameroonian athletes are competing in clubs instead of the national team, the president said, the athletes are not willing to run in the national team because they are not motivated each time they compete in the national team. Also, the national team has neither equipment nor jerseys to enable the athletes compete. "If government comes in to support the national team at anytime we will present the national team," he said.
According to the programme, the race will pass through nine out of 10 provinces in the country. Only the East Province will be left out. This year's edition will have some innovations. As was the case in previous years, the tour of Cameroon will kick-off in the Far North Province, precisely Waza. The innovation this year is that from the northern part of the country, the race will continue in the South province which has always been the last but one Province to cover. From the South the race will go to the Littoral and South West Provinces before going to the West and North West Provinces. In the West Province the athletes will have to climb the Batie hill which will be the most difficult and delicate lap. The Centre Province as usual will be the last province. Another innovation will be in the last lap. The athletes will ride from Monatele to Yaounde via Okola in the Lekie Division of the Centre Province. Technically, the Cameroon cycling federation is set for the competitio n. The French based company, GSO, is already in the country to take care of the technical aspects of the competition. According to Olivier GrandJean, Director of GSO, the only worry is money because much of the preparations are done well ahead of time. According to Claude Bernard Messy everything is set for the tour. What is left is money to meet up with the budget which stands at CFA 320 million. He however said the tour must take off in order to meet the calendar of the International Cyclist Union.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 Cameroon Tribune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
