Fred Vubem
28 March 2008
Though the cycling tour of Cameroon is in its 6th edition and registered in the calendar of the International cycling Union, the tour is yet to gain fame or prominence like the Tour of Burkina Faso or the Tour International the L'est in Cote d'Ivoire.
The reason for this lack of international resonance is due to inadequate publicity on the national and international media about the event, lapses in organisation and the harsh weather condition of some areas covered by the tour.
Concerning the aspect of publicity, newspapers, radio stations and television channels talk about the cycling tour of Cameroon only on the eve of the event and the international media gives little or no coverage to the event as opposed to other competitions like the Tour of France or Burkina Faso, which is announced well in advance and the media gives minute by minute coverage of the tours.
The organisational lapses have to do with the non availability of adequate equipment such that the results of each lap are given somehow late that doesn't give teams enough time to re-adjust their strategies. Coupled with this is the problem of transportation. Athletes are left to do the long and perilous journey to the Far North by train to compete the next day. This makes athletes not to be able to give their optimum due to fatigue from the strain of the journey. Most foreign athletes, always complained about this aspect. Restoration too used to be a problem but there was some remarkable improvement during the last edition. However the problem of lodging still prevails given the insufficient number of hotels to be able to contain the large caravan that usually accompanies the race.
More so, there equally the problem of the length of the race and harshness of the weather of certain parts of the country covered by the race. This had made the international cycling union to almost cancel the three Northern provinces from the race course especially considering the transport difficulties in the region.
In addition to these hazards, is the intestinal quarrel among some officials of the Cameroon cycling federation who don not focus on the success of the race but on their personal dividends that they take home after the race. This led to a scission t the helm of the federation with the first vice president who had been assuring the interim, removed from office and replaced by François Njele, who has shown his worth in the organisation of the Chantal Biya Grand Prix; hopefully this change at the helm of the federation, will lead to a better organisation of the Cycling tour of Cameroon which is in its 6th edition. Already, the new president announced several innovations to take place this year which he said is going to be discovered only during the race.
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