LE NUBIANS DE AFRIQUE

In this photo: Adrien Niyonshuti

A little bit of History or shall we say DraGonstory…

About 1 billion years ago Dark Green DraGon brought forth the human specie of the dark skinned races on Earth, Blue DraGon brought forth the brown skin races and Yellow DraGon brought forth the white skinned race. Then there was a war.

It would seem that this trend has continued ever since but the one thing I can say that in my country of birth, cycling was one of the first sports to be racially integrated.

A few years back The Societe de Tour welcomed one of the greatest cyclists ever, back to his rightful place in the halls of fame, the one Marshall W. Taylor.

Born in Indiana in 1878, Taylor grew up in a different age. He fought racism as hard as he pedaled, to the front of the pack in the velodrome races in which he excelled. One reason he moved to Massachusetts was because he was banned from racing in his home state.Known as the "Worcester Whirlwind," Marshall W. Taylor set a slew of world cycling records at the turn of the last century and became the first African-American athlete to achieve worldwide celebrity.

Recently a larger than life-size statue of this larger-than-life athlete will be unveiled in front of the Worcester Public Library on May 21. Speaking, will be Taylor's successor on the world cycling stage -- Greg Lemond -- and three time-Olympic medal winner Edwin Moses.

Information about Major Taylor courtesy: Major Taylor statue unveiling in spring by Gene Bisbee Above: Major Taylor and below John Cupido on Ventoux

The first African cyclist took part in the Tour de France in 1913: Ali Neffati from Tunesia. Neffati had been discovered by Tour organizer Henri Desgrange, and would later become a driver at l'Auto, the newspaper that organised the Tour de France.

We first saw the Africans in the Tour de France through …..the ‘black board man’ a friend of Lance Armstrong’s but he was no competitor. Later on we met Robbie Hunter of South Africa but he was Caucasian, yet worth the mention as an African.

The dark skinned races like the Columbians and the Mexicans brought us Fabio Parra and what a grand contender he was. In the late nineties he was still very much in contention but as fate/kismet would have it, crashes spoilt his chances and what sadness impressed on our souls that sometimes the best go down prematurely as was in his case and so many others.

Lucho Herrera the Polka dot Jersey wearer, quiet yet powerful filled our TV screens with excitement also and more recently Oliveiro Rincon from teams

Amaya and ONCE on his long break away from Bourg-Saint-Maurice - Le Grand-Bornand on stage 15 of the 1993 Tour de France.

Andy Hampsten and Motorola brought us Alvaro Mejia who was unafraid to challenge Rominger and Indurian.

But the enigmatic, slender, tall Columbian from the South African Barlow World Team Maurizio Soler in the 2007 Tour King of the Mountains and main protagonist in the Alps just would not lie down and attacked time after time making that years tour very memorable for all of us.

We see in the end that the dark skinned riders just never make it to the top 5 in this great event and if they do it doesn’t last to long, could it be money, sponsorship or prejudice? It is not my place to judge but this we know, they are magnificent contenders.

Rahsaan Bahati leading the bunch below and on the right Sebastian Engelbrecht and Mark Florence racing in France in 1999

Rahsaan Bahati from South LA is one of the cycling’s brightest and fastest stars, who many say can be the first Black Tour de France champion. He will be a man to watch for in the future.

Below the great South African hope, Stanley Namayane

In August of 2008 a month like no other for two Kenyan cyclists. Plucked from obscurity in a remote tribal village,

Zakayo Ndbri and Mwangi Samwel spent three weeks near Alpe d’Huez as part of one man’s dream to see the first black Africans take part in the Tour de France.

Hopes and dreams are all good and well on paper but we will watch closely to see if Le Nubians can make it through les herbes folles as more dark skinned riders are crying fais-moi plaisir!

We keep our fingers crossed because when they reach Le Grand Boucle we wouldn’t like any of them crying Le Nubians Paris ne respond plus… Below: Paul Minaar leading the bunch in the 2003 Giro Del Capo and below this Director Sportif Conrad Lesch

Now back to my country of birth South Africa, I first saw black riders when I followed the Rapport Tour of 1988 while meeting Willie Engelbrecht for the first time in the start village of Simonstown.

That year there were no less than 5 black riders in the bunch. Later on a real strong contender and a young man adored by the ladies and the public, Owen Hannie, flourished and raced

not only in South Africa but abroad as well.

One is tempted to say that it was he that has been a real role model for riders of colour in the modern era.

There is nothing more beautiful than a Director Sportif who is concerned about his rider and in this photo above the face of Douglas tells it all, Douglas Ryder (photos), Adrien Niyonshuti

In between the Rapport Tour years and Douglas Ryder, we have riders that I have to mention, who perhaps did not make it to the front pages of newspapers or television but

still I feel paved the way to what cycling is today amongst riders of colour in South Africa

Victor Johnstone, Francesco Solomons, Wayne Stevens, John Cupido, Henry Cupido, Mark Florence, Marwaan, Jeremy, Norman Isaacs,Kayoum Matthews, Jeremy Tuis, Faizel, Freddie, Paul Minnaar, Kevin Green and Nolan Hoffman and my good friend, Director Sportif, Conrad (Coenie) Lesch to name a few. There are others and in our hearts we have not overlooked you.

Today Douglas Ryder, whom we are thankful for, is doing his fair share to bring more of these riders forward in a sport that is truly the most difficult sport in the world in his country of South Africa.

I am sure that it is not only riders of colour who would like to see Le Nubians on the podiums of world professional cycling but I can safely say Jean Marie Leblanc, Christian Prudhomme and the late Henry de Grange would like that also.