By Politico staff writer
The Lunsar Cycling Team has in a release confirmed that the Science in Sports Tour De Lunsar hosted in Sierra Leone will commence from the 25th to 27th March 2022 with participants from other parts of the world including other African countries and the United States of America.
According to the release, the event will showcase the prestigious talents of Sierra Leonean cyclists as they connect, learn, and impact their own knowledge onto other riders.
The take-off point for riders is the National Stadium in Freetown and the race will run through Makeni, PortLoko, and villages during the three days with Lunsar Town to serve as the finishing line, the home of the Lunsar Cycling Team. Women and junior cyclists will at some point, join the race.
According to the release, stage one of the race will include a police escort ‘ride out’ through the capital in which local people who are not competing will be encouraged to join in and ride whatever bike they have through the streets of Freetown.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Tour De Lunsar, Abdul Karim Kamara said: ‘’The Tour de Lunsar is important in Sierra Leone because it exposes the country to International tourists, adding that it also creates job empowerment, business opportunities for locals and a positive feeling in the community.’’
Kamara noted that the 2022 race will be the biggest ever in relation to the prizes on offer. ‘’One of the things that makes it the biggest for this year is that we are planning to put cash money on all the winners. We are not only going to put cash prizes on teams but on individual winners”.
The CEO said that the iconic Le Col yellow leader’s jersey will be awarded at the end of each stage to the leader in the overall classification. He added that cycling as an event integrated into the Commonwealth Games, the participants will also be hoping to catch the eye of the national selectors for participants in the games.
The statement added that last year's stage winner prize was given to Sorie Koroma who won the overall men’s event and Isata Sama Monde winning the Women’s race.
Inspired by the world beyond his home, the mining town of Lunsar which has no cycling heritage to speak of our founder Abdul Karim Kamara launched the team from his bicycle repair workshop in 2015. The shop has since moved to bigger premises and become a focal point for of the community. There are now more than 30 promising young riders on the team, also boasting the biggest women’s membership of any club in Sierra Leone. The riders train together four times a week, each ride covering 60-120km of local roads. The team’s dream is to one day reach international competitions like the Tour du Rwanda and have representatives at the Commonwealth Games.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (02/02/22)
