Rwandan junior cyclists Donatha Akimana and Emmanuel Shema are set to take another important step in their preparations for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after being invited by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to a training camp in Kenya.
The camp is expected to give the two young riders an opportunity to sharpen their technical and physical abilities while gaining experience in a more demanding international training environment ahead of the continental event.
For Akimana and Shema, the opportunity comes at an important stage of their development after they recently competed at the 2026 ANOCA Zone V Youth Games in Nairobi, where both riders delivered strong performances.
Akimana won gold in the women’s 60-kilometre road race, while Shema claimed silver in the men’s 80-kilometre road race.
The UCI camp will provide another platform for the riders to work on areas such as endurance, race tactics, speed, positioning and technical decision-making while training alongside athletes and coaches in an international setting.
“This camp is going to help me sharpen my skills, improve my preparation and understand what is required at a higher level. I want to use every session to become a stronger and more complete cyclist before Dakar,” Akimana said.
Shema said the experience will also help him understand the level of competition he will face when he steps onto the Youth Olympic stage.
“Training in this environment will expose me to new challenges and help me learn from other cyclists. It is an opportunity to improve my skills and gain the confidence and experience needed to compete on the global stage,” he said.
The invitation is part of a wider pathway through which young African cyclists are being given more opportunities to develop through international training and competition.
The UCI has increasingly expanded programmes aimed at identifying and developing promising riders from countries where access to high-level cycling opportunities remains limited.
Akimana and Shema have already demonstrated their potential at regional level.
Their performances in Nairobi provided valuable competitive experience and helped strengthen Rwanda’s preparations for Dakar, with the country’s young athletes using international competitions to test themselves against peers from other countries.
The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will take place from October 31 to November 13, 2026, in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, Senegal.
The Games will bring together around 2,700 young athletes from more than 200 National Olympic Committees, making them the first Olympic sports event to be held on African soil.
Cycling will feature through road events, with both boys and girls competing in a road race and an individual time trial.
The cycling programme is scheduled for November 8 and 10, respectively, with 84 riders expected to compete.
For Rwanda’s young cyclists, the UCI camp therefore represents more than another training opportunity. It offers a chance to refine their abilities, experience a higher-performance environment and prepare mentally and physically for an event that will bring together some of the world’s most promising young athletes.
As Akimana and Shema continue their preparations, the focus will be on turning the experience gained in Kenya and through the UCI programme into stronger performances when they represent Rwanda in Dakar.Note: I deliberately treated the two athlete quotes as draft/quote-ready statements, not verified quotations.
