Alongside our grass-roots development work, it is vital we at Africa Rising Cycling always talk about and promote the many African riders riding in the professional peloton. These men and women are the inspirations for the next generation of talent from Africa, and continue to also improve the diversity of pro cycling around the world.
In the 2025 season, over 140 African male and female riders were on teams in the top three levels of professional cycling (World Tour, Pro Continental & Continental) – a record-breaking moment. With the recent UCI Cycling World Championships in Africa for the first time, the world of cycling got to see some new talent on show too. For 2025, we created an exclusive tracker of all male and female African riders, the teams they were on, and their ProCyclingStats records which you can reference if useful.
As the transfer season has now begin in earnest (9 October at time of writing) it is time to launch our Tracker of 2026 contract renewals and announcements for African riders, see table below. Each rider’s name below is a hyperlink to their ProCyclingStats bio, their team and contract length, and their current UCI Africa Tour and UCI rankings (as at 9 October 2025):
Africa Tour – Top 25 Men: Pro Team Contract Status for 2026
| Live Rankings | Name | Nationality | 2026 Contract | 2025 Pro Team |
| Africa: 1 / UCI: 36 | Biniam Girmay | Eritrea | Contract through 2028 / TBC | Intermarché Wanty |
| Africa: 2 / UCI: 84 | Henok Mulubrhan | Eritrea | Confirmed: Through 2027 | Astana Qazaqstan |
| Africa: 3 / UCI: 191 | Natnael Tesfatsion | Eritrea | Confirmed | Movistar |
| Africa: 4 / UCI: 238 | Milkiyas Maekele | Eritrea | BIKE AID | |
| Africa: 5 / UCI: 295 | Yacine Hamza | Algeria | Madar Pro Cycling Team | |
| Africa: 6 / UCI: 297 | Charles Kagimu | Uganda | Team Amani | |
| Africa: 7 / UCI: 298 | Alexandre Mayer | Mauritius | Confirmed | Burgos Burpellet BH |
| Africa: 8 / UCI: 342 | Stefan de Bod | South Africa | Terengganu Cycling | |
| Africa: 9 / UCI: 410 | Emile van Niekerk | South Africa | Madar Pro Cycling Team | |
| Africa: 10/ UCI: 453 | Louis Meintjes | South Africa | Retiring | Intermarché Wanty |
| Africa: 11 / UCI: 462 | Brandon Downes | South Africa | No pro team | |
| Africa: 12 / UCI: 474 | Nahom Zeray | Eritrea | JCL Team UKYO | |
| Africa: 13 / UCI: | Negasi Haylu Abreha | Ethiopia | Sam – Vitalcare – Dynatek | |
| Africa: 14 / UCI: 484 | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg | South Africa | No pro team | |
| Africa: 15 / UCI: 491 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier | Eritrea | Confirmed | Lidl-Trek |
| Africa: 16 / UCI: 553 | Alan Hatherly | South Africa | Confirmed | Team Jayco AlUla |
| Africa: 17 / UCI: 561 | Yoel Habteab | Eritrea | BIKE AID | |
| Africa: 18 / UCI: 571 | Hamza Amari | Algeria | Madar Pro Cycling Team | |
| Africa: 19 / UCI: 579 | Youcef Reguigui | Algeria | Madar Pro Cycling Team | |
| Africa: 20 / UCI: 625 | Eric Muhoza | Rwanda | Team Amani | |
| Africa: 21 / UCI: 629 | Dawit Yemane | Eritrea | BIKE AID | |
| Africa: 22 / UCI: 634 | Azzedine Lagab | Algeria | Madar Pro Cycling Team | |
| Africa: 23 / UCI: 641 | Adil El Arbaoui | Morocco | No pro team | |
| Africa: 24 / UCI: 659 | Mohammed Aziz Dellai | Tunisia | No pro team | |
| Africa: 25 / UCI: 678 | Islam Mansouri | Algeria | Madar Pro Cycling Team |
Other African Men: Pro Team Contract Status for 2026
| Live Rankings | Name | Nationality | 2026 Contract? | 2025 Pro Team |
| Africa: 64 | Hebron Berhane | Eritrea | Confirmed | Wuzhishan SCOM MVMT |
| Africa: 92 | Awet Aman | Eritrea | Confirmed | Wuzhishan SCOM MVMT |
| Africa: 111 | Merhawi Kudus | Eritrea | Confirmed | Burgos Burpellet BH |
| Africa: 179 | Kieran Gordge | South Africa | Confirmed: Through 2027 | Hagens Berman Jayco |
| Africa: 210 | Morné Van Niekerk | South Africa | Confirmed | St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93 |
Africa Women Top 10: Pro Team Contract Status for 2026
| Live Rankings | Name | Nationality | 2026 Ride? | 2025 Team |
| Africa: 1 / UCI: 8 | Kim Le Court | Mauritius | Confirmed: Through 2028 | AG Insurance – Soudal |
| Africa: 2 / UCI: 129 | Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio | South Africa | Confirmed | AG Insurance – Soudal |
| Africa: 3 / UCI: 203 | Xaverine Nirere | Rwanda | No pro team | |
| Africa: 4 / UCI: 237 | Anri Greef | Namibia | No pro team | |
| Africa: 5 / UCI: 241 | Monalisa Araya | Eritrea | No pro team | |
| Africa: 6 / UCI: 241 | Mallika Benallal | Morocco | No pro team | |
| Africa: 7 / UCI: 274 | S’annara Grove | South Africa | Confirmed | Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team |
| Africa: 8 / UCI: 285 | Lucie de Marigny-Lagesse | Mauritius | No pro team | |
| Africa: 9 / UCI: 286 | Jazilla Mwamikazi | Rwanda | Rumoured: signing for WCC | World Cycling Centre |
| Africa: 10 / UCI: 300 | Diane Ingabire | Rwanda | CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation |
Other African Women: Pro Team Contract Status for 2026
| Live Rankings | Name | Nationality | 2026 Ride? | 2025 Team |
| UCI: 525 | Tiffany Keep | South Africa | DAS Hutchinson | |
| UCI: 562 | Lize-Ann Louw | South Africa | World Cycling Centre | |
| UCI: 1088 | Maddie Le Roux | South Africa | CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation | |
| UCI: 1173 | Florence Nakagwa | Uganda | CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation | |
| UCI: n/a | Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye | Nigeria | Rumoured: Re-signing | CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation |
| UCI: n/a | Trhas Tesfay | Ethiopia | Retired from cycling | World Cycling Centre |
| UCI: 1241 | Tsige Kahsay Kiros | Ethiopia | Rumoured: Pro team | No pro team |
We will keep this up-to-date with all official contract renewals and new contract signings as we see them (confirmed by teams, not rumoured), and any rumours we hear also as notes. Please do let us know any relevant information you hear!
Our data partner ProCyclingStats has a live feed on all confirmed male and female pro transfers for 2026 and beyond globally on their website HERE.
