We are most excited to bring our #FromThePaddock series back to life, this time from the very warm Bénin, in West Africa – ahead of the start on Monday 28 April of the 2025 Tour du Bénin. We will update our blog with content, interviews, imagery and all the things you guys want from a bike race!
We will be sharing content in real time across our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, BlueSky, LinkedIn) so please do give these a follow, as well as more in-depth articles and interviews with key riders, team management, UCI officials and many more present at this incredible race.
24 April: Preparations for the Tour du Bénin began today in earnest.
We saw the arrival of Team Cameroon this morning, alongside Team Born’Heures, Universe Cycling Team, Team Nigeria. The Tshenolo Pro Cycling Team from South Africa arrived later in the evening. The latter boasting ex-World Tour rider Reinardt Janse van Rensburg on their roster. This will make for a happy reunion with Adrien Niyonshuti, the Bénin National Team head coach, as they raced together for several years on the Team Dimension Data, at the World Tour level.
Alongside the Tour du Bénin, Adrien’s national team are also preparing for the African Continental Track Championships in a few weeks in Egypt, so a group of female and male riders (Exodus Saïzonou pictured below) were out practicing their track skills today, on the circuit around the iconic ‘Stade Charles de Gaulle’ in Porto Novo.
The pressure is on the host nation, and the Benin National Cycling team house was a hive of activity today, with bikes being serviced, new parts being fitted, equipment being checked, and race kit being handed out to the Men’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ team riders, as well as the women ahead of the GP on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the well-known journalist Eric Falaizeau and a colleague from Cavousplay Productions, gave a detailed presentation of the nuances of professional bike racing to a dozen or so prominent news and sports journalists from Bénin to ensure they report on the event accurately.
23 April: Our team arrived into Cotonou late in the evening and settled into accommodation. The roadbook was circulated earlier so we had time to go through this and familiarise ourselves with the race.
The six stage UCI 2.2 ME Tour du Bénin starts on Monday 28 April and runs through to Saturday 3 May, with a 25km Team Time Trial (TTT) taking place on Stage Three (30 April). The men will then race the – newly promoted to 2.1 – 107km Grand Prix de Cotonou on Sunday 4 May…
…and for the women, for the first time, on Saturday 3 May, after the men’s stage finishes, the debut women’s 54km Grand Prix International Des Amazones will take place, giving many the female riders an equal chance to the men to get time racing in front of the big expected crowds!
