The Team
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Nicholas Leong
Nicholas Leong is the co-founder of Kenyan Riders, a Singapore-registered sports management company that trains athletically talented Kenyans (who are renowned marathon champions) to become world-class cyclists. It has a multi-national staff of 25. The bicycle is already a relevant part of life in Kenya, being used as a vital means of transport. What Kenyan Riders has done is introduce the sport of cycling as a viable lifestyle choice, and added an extra dimension to the use of the bicycle in Africa. In tandem with that, Leong has developed good relationships with schools in the area, and is starting school bicycle races. Through these efforts, knowledge of training for cycling will disseminate through the grassroots using equipment that is accessible to a Kenyan. Through these efforts, he and his team hope to develop the first East African professional cycling team to race at the highest levels in the world. Matthieu and Marie-Anne Vermersch co-founded Kenyan Riders with Nicholas Leong when they met and found that they had a shared vision. Together, they formed Kenyan Riders Pte Ltd in Singapore in 2009.
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Rob Higley – Project Coach
Rob Higley came to Kenya each year from 1991, initially to expand his running knowledge. From 2005 he was asked to coach the elite running squad at the famous St. Patrick’s camp in Iten. This resulted in spectacular performances from big names in Kenyan athletics, including Isaac Songok, Augustine Choge and David Rudisha. It was here in 2006 that Rob met Nicholas Leong, and was told of the Kenyan cycling project. Rob was invited to join the Kenyan Riders in 2010, to rejuvenate waning bodies and stagnant minds. The role expanded rapidly until he was installed as project coach in 2011, working full-time with the entire team in Kenya and at races in Africa and Europe. Being an intricate and time-consuming task, Rob recruited Simon Blake and Ciaran Fitzpatrick, whom he had coached as runners and mentored as coaches.
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Simon Blake – Cycling Coach
Simon Blake is the cycling coach for the Kenyan Riders. He has worked extensively in Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. He is a SERIOUS adventurer, having spent many years in the outdoor education industry. Simon’s qualifications are in Mountain Biking, Rafting, Canoeing, Bushwalking, L2 Cycle, L2 Bushwalk, RL2 Raft, AG Climb, Moving Water Canoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Kayaking Grade 2. His most recent course was in para-gliding. And that’s just scratching the surface. Simon has introduced many innovative methods in the Kenyan Riders training programme, incorporating his experience as a mountain bike instructor with his extensive experience travelling and working in Africa.
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Ciaran Fitzpatrick – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Ciaran Fitzpatrick is the Kenyan Riders’ strength and conditioning coach. He has a first class honours degree in Physical Education from Limerick University. Ciaran is a well-travelled, multi-lingual young man with additional qualifications in Level 1 Athletic Coaching, Massage Therapy, Neuromuscular Therapy, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and First Aid. Prior to joining the Kenyan Riders, he was also the head coach in middle distance and cross-country running at Ballyfin AC, where more than half the athletes aged 13-19 medalled at regional level.
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Joseph Gichora
Joseph Gichora is another trainee member. Still 19 years old, he clocked 34m43s up a climb in the Kerio Valley. It would have been good enough for a 43min result up Alpe d’Huez, the same time that Samwel Mwangi did, but at the age of 24. So there’s lots of promise! Gichora appears to be a quiet and determined young man.
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Emmanuel Killy
Emmanuel Killy is our other ex-runner. As a junior, he failed to make Kenyan athletics team for the Junior World Championships, by one place. He has a 3m42s personal best in the 1500m. He has been with us for close to 9 months, and is making good progress.
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Geoffrey Panyako
Geoffrey Panyako is one of our trainee members. At Kenyan Riders, we are used to seeing hard men. But Panyako might be the hardest of them all. He cycled 480 km over 2 days on his Black Mamba, arrived in Iten at 3am, ate a few chapatis, slept, and went for our race at 8 in the morning, where he finished 6th on a difficult climb. He is slowly learning to pace himself through our programme and build the consistency that is necessary to become a pro cyclist.
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Samwel Ekiru
Samwel Ekiru is a Turkana from Kitale. As a boy, he dropped out of school to become a bicycle taxi operator. Turkanas, because of their pastoral backgrounds and general lack of education, tend to be hired as security guards and cow herdsmen, or they become itinerant traders if they fail to secure employment. Sammy has done all those jobs. In between, he loved riding his bike. On his first visit to Iten, he broke the climbing record up Kerio Valley. He is a warrior on the bike, and he is slowly learning to pace himself through a race.
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Suleiman Kangangi
Suleiman Kangangi is the youngest senior member in our squad. He is a Kikuyu tribesman from the areas around Eldoret. When he was a boy, his mother took him out of school and hired him out to a family to look after their cattle. But he was determined to make something of his life, and taught himself to read and write, and to speak English. He started cycling to get himself around, and found he really loved the activity. Even with such limited racing experience, he is a great reader of a race. A smart and thoughtful young man, we see a bright future for him.
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Ayub Kathurima
Ayub Kathurima was the fastest firewood hauler in all of Western Kenya. He would pick up firewood from the woodcutters in the forests, and be in the markets in town before anyone else. Sometimes he could make 2 runs in a day when other haulers would only make one. At Kenyan Riders, we eventually find out about people like Kathurima. We invited to camp about a year ago, and he has been with us ever since.
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Paul Ariko
Paul Ariko is a Turkana tribesman. When he was a young boy of about 11, the family left their drought plagued homeland and pastoral life for the urban unpredictability of Eldoret. Never having been in school before, and coming from a family where even the idea of education was non-existent, Ariko struggled in class. When he was 14, he entered a bicycle race, and won a Black Mamba. Soon, he was competing in every race he could enter. In between races, he worked as an itinerant tradesman, ferrying goods to and from rural to urban areas.
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Samwel Mwangi
Samwel Mwangi is one of our first sponsored cyclists. He was a bicycle taxi operator when Nicholas Leong discovered him. When Nicholas first went to Kenya looking for professional cyclists, he used to pay the taxi operators to haul his 100kg frame up a hill out of Eldoret, and Mwangi was the fastest of all the riders. With that performance, he got a ticket to France and Alpe d’Huez, where he clocked 43m35s. Since then, he has become more of the more consistent performers in the camp. He is now the captain of the squad.
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Benjamin Kipchumba
Benjamin Kipchumba is the ex-runner in our team. His personal bests are 13m35s for the 5000m, 28m15s for the 10,000m, and 62m37s for the half marathon. That would probably make him the national record holder is 90% of the countries in the world, but unfortunately, being Kenyan, he was essentially a journeyman runner. He made the transition to cycling at the relatively late age of 26. The coaching staff are trying to make him more consistent, and when he can, he will be a stalwart in the team.
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John Njoroge
John Njoroge is presently our best rider. He comes from the highlands of Naivasha. After leaving school at 18, he worked as a milk deliveryman, transporting up to 50 litres of milk on his bicycle. On his way home, and unencumbered by having 50 litres of swishing liquid on his bike, he would take the long route back, testing himself, and always trying to go a little faster. He knew he loved cycling, and knew that there were professional cyclists, but he didn’t quite know how to get there. He is tiny man, with a feral, powerful physique. He finished 4th at Haute Route, the ‘toughest and highest cyclosportive in the world’. Perhaps more impressively, he finished 3rd in the Tour of Rwanda, less than 2 minutes behind 2 South African pros.
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