# Pro black cyclist's?



## Drummerboy1975 (Mar 14, 2012)

Are there any riding the Tour? I've been some riding track bikes in tv, but have seen any riding the Tour.


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## a1234 (Sep 3, 2011)

Yohann Gène from Europcar.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Would love to see more color in the pro tour peloton.

There is some grass roots pro racing African teams, but they are severely limited by funding and equipment.

As far as North American interest in bike racing from our black populace contingent, it just hasn't hit the mainstream.

We need another Major Taylor, Tiger Woods, and Williams sisters to blow the roof off the "rich white nman's sport" paradigm.

God help us ******'s if cycling ever gets popular with the Kenyans.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Drummerboy1975 said:


> Are there any riding the Tour? *I've been some riding track bikes in tv,* but have seen any riding the Tour.


Interesting! You are a black rider on tv, but not at home? Or you are a black rider on the track, but not on the road?


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## cq20 (Mar 24, 2007)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> God help us ******'s if cycling ever gets popular with the *Kenyans. *


Like Chris Froome!


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## Drummerboy1975 (Mar 14, 2012)

foto said:


> Interesting! You are a black rider on tv, but not at home? Or you are a black rider on the track, but not on the road?


No, wait. I've seen PRO black track cyclist on TV, but hardly any pro road racers. Here in Little Rock, AR we have many black cyclist on the trail where everyone rides. Even several all black teams and groups that ride together.

Like everyone else said, if our sport ever gets popular with other countries that really excel like say, Kenya, we are in trouble.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

cq20 said:


> Like Chris Froome!




But he's a bit pale...


Interested in his story nonetheless. I heard Paul mention something along the lines of his native Nairobi (been there...that place is whack) was non supportive, so he moved to S Africa.


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## MattSoutherden (Jun 24, 2009)

As has been mentioned, Yohann Gène is currently riding the Tour.

One reason there might not be many black riders in the pro ranks is that for many years cycling was a way for less privileged kids to make a more than decent living. In Europe, the vast majority of less privileged black kids live in inner city areas where there isn't much opportunity for cycling, and sports like Football and Basketball are 'what kids do'. 

Cycling is growing in profile all over the globe now, so no doubt we will see more non-euro-caucasion riders [on the World Tout] in time. An interesting up and coming rider is the Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot who's come through the UCI development program and now rides for GreenEdge.

Daniel Teklehaimanot: from World Cycling Centre to GreenEdge pastures | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Would love to see more color in the pro tour peloton.
> 
> There is some grass roots pro racing African teams, but they are severely limited by funding and equipment.
> 
> ...


Ahhh, the classic liberal white male guilt. I thought Tiger Woods was Korean?


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

OnTheRivet said:


> Ahhh, the classic liberal white male guilt. I thought Tiger Woods was Korean?


No, the black half always trumps. When was the last time you heard anyone call Obama white?
Sports have a lot to do with their region. Not a lot of boxing gyms in the suburbs. Not a lot of places to go for a bike ride in the inner city.


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## The Tedinator (Mar 12, 2004)

To paraphrase Dave Chappell, let Tiger get pulled over by the cops at 2:00 am and you'll find out if he is black or Korean!


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

T K said:


> No, the black half always trumps. When was the last time you heard anyone call Obama white?
> Sports have a lot to do with their region. Not a lot of boxing gyms in the suburbs. Not a lot of places to go for a bike ride in the inner city.


Hincapie came out of NYC! In the US, there are all kinds of people of various ethnicities racing bikes in the cities. Its just that cycling isn't a sport you get into to get rich, so most people with talent go into something else.

In Europe, you can get rich riding a bike, but how many black people are in Europe...


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Oh, and let me get out my inner PlatyPius. Pro Black Cyclist's what? Pro black cyclist's mom? Pro black cyclist's left foot? Pro black cyclist's painfull rectal itch?


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## saf-t (Sep 24, 2008)

This article was in the NY Times a couple of weeks ago...

ITEN, Kenya — Five years ago, Sammy Ekiru was negotiating traffic on his bicycle taxi for roughly three dollars a day in Kitale, a remote Kenyan town 20 miles from the Ugandan border. Today, he and his bike remain inseparable. His labor and his livelihood, however, have taken a substantially different course.

The Kenyan Riders are training for smaller competitions over the next several months in Europe, with an ultimate goal of contending in the Tour de France.

Ekiru is a member of a trailblazing squad of Kenyan competitive cyclists who have managed to introduce cycling to a country with virtually no history of it. The Kenyan Riders, a project launched by a Singaporean entrepreneur, Nicholas Leong, in 2007, have not set their sights modestly. In the more than a century since the first Tour de France, a black African team has never been a contender. The Kenyan Riders aim to change that.


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## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

The black track rider you mention isn't just a track rider--he's the current World Champion in the Sprint, Gregory Bauge.


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## editedforsafety (May 8, 2011)

T K said:


> No, the black half always trumps. When was the last time you heard anyone call Obama white?
> Sports have a lot to do with their region. Not a lot of boxing gyms in the suburbs. Not a lot of places to go for a bike ride in the inner city.


I know what you are saying, but I do most of my riding inside the Detroit city limits. I live in the suburbs, but the roads are much less crowded in the city. Because the city roads were designed with over a million residents in mind, and there are much less than that now, there are a lot of empty roads. They've wised up to it as well and started putting bike lanes in all over the place.


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## FastRich (May 11, 2012)

T K said:


> Not a lot of boxing gyms in the suburbs.


Get with the times man! Every chunky, underachieving, suburban kid with a tapout shirt is an MMA fighter now.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Tiger Woods' mother is Thai, not Korean.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

OnTheRivet said:


> Ahhh, the classic liberal white male guilt. I thought Tiger Woods was Korean?


OEH is a girl.


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## Ridin'Sorra (Sep 7, 2004)

foto said:


> Hincapie came out of NYC! In the US, there are all kinds of people of various ethnicities racing bikes in the cities. Its just that cycling isn't a sport you get into to get rich, so most people with talent go into something else.
> 
> In Europe, you can get rich riding a bike, but how many black people are in Europe...


Yeah, but GH is from a Colombian family and his father was a cyclist himself. He's the needle in the haystack. 

I take the point that ethnicity has no bearing in whatever you want to become... but cultural background influences a lot. For example... how many good cyclist have you heard from Argentina? They're largely of European ascent (mostly Spanish and Italian), one would think they would be heavily into cycling. Compare that to Colombia or Mexico where there were/are large black and native populations.

There are lot of black people in Europe. France, Germany and Spain have large populations of black people from West Africa and Muslim people from the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa. Germany, Italy, France and England have black players in their national football teams.

They're still considered a "minority" just like Latins in the USA.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Ridin'Sorra said:


> Yeah, but GH is from a Colombian family and his father was a cyclist himself. He's the needle in the haystack.
> 
> *I take the point that ethnicity has no bearing in whatever you want to become*... but cultural background influences a lot. For example... how many good cyclist have you heard from Argentina? They're largely of European ascent (mostly Spanish and Italian), one would think they would be heavily into cycling. Compare that to Colombia or Mexico where there were/are large black and native populations.
> 
> ...


Actually, that's not my point at all. My point is that it isn't an urban environment that keeps minorities from becoming pros, its the lack of dollars in the sport. There are no youth development programs, NCAA cycling, etc. You have to do it all on your own dime, which is an insurmountable hurdle for most everyone with real athletic talent.


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## King Arthur (Nov 13, 2009)

MattSoutherden said:


> As has been mentioned, Yohann Gène is currently riding the Tour.
> 
> One reason there might not be many black riders in the pro ranks is that for many years cycling was a way for less privileged kids to make a more than decent living. In Europe, the vast majority of less privileged black kids live in inner city areas where there isn't much opportunity for cycling, and sports like Football and Basketball are 'what kids do'.
> 
> ...


Cycling, in the early days of both America and Europe was a means of transportation, as well as a means to make a living (racing) by the poor folk. But with the introduction of "big money" (corporate), also the addition of money from T.V. and internet broadcasts, cycling is not considered a poor sport. When one considers the amount of money made by cycling in the U.S. versus football, baseball or basketball, it is rather paltry.


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## Drummerboy1975 (Mar 14, 2012)

Mapei said:


> Tiger Woods' mother is Thai, not Korean.


Actually she's Thai, Chinese, and Dutch.


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

As far as I'm aware, one of the only remotely successful black road cyclists is Rashaan Bahati. His biggest win was the US National Crit Championship in 2008 with Rock Racing. He's been operating on the national level and mainly takes up crits. I think part of his focus is local charity, but I'm not sure necessarily why he never ended up on a UCIProTeam.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Why are there no American track athletes able to be competetive at anything above 800metres?
Why has America lost its dominant ways in world class tennis?
Why are there no Sudanese Formula 1 drivers?
Why are Spain and Australia such successful sporting nations?
Why does Turkey produce so many top class weight lifters?

The answer too any or all the above is: too much money or too little money or predjudice or having/not having local inspirational role models or a lack of local traditions or facilities or in the case of many African countries and communities across the globe a lack of food.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Ridin'Sorra said:


> They're still considered a "minority" just like Latins in the USA.


Not for long.


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## vismitananda (Jan 16, 2011)

Most European countries are better equipped at this sport than any other country, they have the best technology.

I am a Filipino but we only excel at contact sports (boxing, mma, etc). Here if you want to turn pro in cycling, your family will starve.


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## zoikz (Sep 5, 2003)

*Daniel Teklehaymanot*

Africa does seem like there is some talent that should be making their way to more recognized venues. It's a hard transition, and even with heaps of raw talent, the racing season really doesn't prepare the riders well.
Jonathan Boyer has been working with the Rwandan's and there seems to be some promise.
Not sure the Kenyans have a lot going in talent. 
The real talent in Africa is with the Eritean's. Daniel Teklehaymanot was signed by Green Edge but they are taking their time with him, developing and coaching him. He's the best black rider to ever come out of Africa. Hopefully he'll live up to his promise. There's a couple other Eritean riders who have come to N.America looking for teams, but there is a lot of development.
Nelson Vails deserves a comment. Mostly a track rider, but did a lot of crit racing as well. But alas long retired.


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