12th September, 2021
By Aderonke Ojo
Nigeria is doing well at the ongoing 2021 Tissot International Cycling Union (UCI) Championship in Cali, Colombia.
Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Giandomenico Massari, made this known.
He congratulated Nigerian female track cyclists taking part in the event.
Massari said the Nigerian team was chalking up points in the competition.
“We are acquiring points and the Olympic qualification is based on continent and in Africa for now we (Nigeria) are leading.
“We have two African countries participating, Nigeria and South Africa.
“Although Nigeria is not as experienced as the other countries that have decades of experience, it is doing well.
“This is our first appearance in the UCI Track Cycling Championship… We are only participating in the women’s categories,’’ Massari said.
Nigeria is being represented in the competition by four female riders, Tawakalitu Yekeen, Mary Samuel, Grace Ayuba and Ese Ukpeseraye.
Though Nigeria began participating in the sports in 2018, it is better than some other teams with decades of experience.
He said Nigeria’s initial target was to qualify to participate in the Colombia tournament and that it achieved.
The ongoing 2021 Tissot UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup championship in Colombia commenced on Sept. 9 and is expected to end on Sept.13.
The championship comes in the build-up to next month`s UCI Track World Championships billed to take place in Roubaix, France from Oct. 20 to Oct. 24.
Massari said Nigeria would also take part in the France championship.
Some of the participating countries in the Colombia women cycling event are Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica.
Barbados, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Ukraine, US, Uzbekistan and Poland are also taking part.