Two applications, Rwanda (Kigali) and Morocco (Tangier),
were in the running for these first world championships of cycling organized in
Africa.
The UCI's management committee opted unsurprisingly for
Kigali's bid, which was the clear favourite.
The UCI President, Frenchman David Lappartient, had
announced at the beginning of his first mandate in 2017 his desire to organize
the road World Championships, the UCI's flagship event, in Africa.
All other continents have already hosted the road World
Championships. After Flanders, which is hosting the competitions this week, the
next editions will take place in 2022 in Australia (Wollongong), in 2023 in
Scotland and in 2024 in Switzerland.
The Tour of Rwanda, which David Lappartient visited last
May, is one of the main cycling events in Africa, and attracts large crowds
every year on selective courses that are typically climbers or puncheurs.
The first world cycling championships date back to the
1920s, with the amateurs in 1921 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the professionals
in 1927 in Germany (Nürburgring).
North America hosted the event for the first time in 1974 in
Montreal (Canada), and South America in 1977 in Venezuela (San Cristobal). Asia
organized them for the first time in 1990 in Japan (Utsunomiya), and Oceania in
2010, in Geelong near Melbourne.