Now he sold his gold mine in Uganda, the country which has been his home for much of his life, former professional Paul Sherwen has had time to reflect on another type of African treasure: road cycling. This is why the television commentator visited the Tour of Rwanda, not far from his home in Kampala. After seeing two days of racing and the standards of organisation, Sherwen described the Tour of Rwanda and Team Rwanda achievements are “inspirational”.
“This is the first time I come, responding to Jock's invitation, and I am amazed to see what's happening in Rwanda”, Sherwen told Cyclingnews in Kigali.
Sherwen believes that the countries of the African Great Lakes region should me more involved in the development of African cycling. There is a gap between Rwanda and Eritrea and Ethiopia, which all sent national teams to the eight-day races, and Rwanda's neighbours, who are not represented in the race peloton.
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“I am sad there's no Ugandan national team at the start”, Sherwen said. “On the same way as the Tour of Rwanda, we also can imagine a Tour of Uganda one day. There are beautiful roads outside Kampala, the country is wonderful and there's no doubt a major cycling race could promote all its assets.”
Sherwen knows that Ugandan cycling needs more support, notably from businessmen and even more importantly from cycling federations.
“I know some who are really interested to invest into cycling,” Sherwen said. “The Tour of Rwanda and Team Rwanda are successful thanks to the perfect collaboration between Jock Boyer and the national cycling federation.I am afraid some other federations don't really support their own country, like the Kenyan one, where the president has been in place since about 30 years.”
Sherwen says he could be involved in African cycling, especially in the off-season, but not full-time as Boyer is. He is considering instead a role, helping the promotion of cycling projects. He also dreams on a stage race across several East African countries that would go beyond borders.
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