On Monday, at the opening stage of the 20th Annual Tour du Benin, 27-year-old Ezer Mensah was the highest-ranked Benin finisher, coming across the line in 13th place. Ezer is also on the upper end of the sport’s age range. He will not race in Europe, and he will not have a professional career racing at the Pro Conti or World Tour level. He might race for an African Continental Team, but even that is a remote opportunity.
But Ezer is a remarkable success story. Yes, all of us at Team Africa Rising want to develop good cyclists—cyclists who may one day win a stage at the Tour de France or win the Tour de France—but more importantly, we want to inspire greatness amongst the young men and women, boys and girls in our orbit. Ezer was already great.
Meeting Ezer
I met Ezer for the first time in January 2021 when I visited Benin to begin implementing the Zwift virtual training and racing platform. The team house at the time was on the fourth floor of a dilapidated building on the main road in Porto Novo. It was hot, dusty, and loud, filled with passing diesel fumes. Ezer was one of the first riders to greet me.
Ezer is built for sprinting. He’s big and muscular, which served him well as a 17-year-old center-back defender in his football days. He’s done well on the track, but that’s not an easy event to train for or participate in regularly, as the track is a 10-hour drive away in Nigeria.
Ezer quit football early on to take up cycling, thinking it might give him more opportunities. That’s what sport is on the African continent – a way out, a way to a better life.
Cycling
But cycling wasn’t as evolved in Benin a decade ago as it is today. We met the Benin Cycling Federation President in 2019 and held our first mechanics course in late 2019, then COVID and life stopped for 18 months. We began working again in early 2021. That year, Benin finished 18th in the Africa Tour rankings. By 2023, Benin finished 10th.
But five years is like 150 years in the cycling careers of young men.
Ezer would never make it to the top levels of the sport.
But this is why our work at Team Africa Rising is so vital. Yes, we want to produce good African cyclists, but we’re equally concerned and invested in the “next chapter” of these young lives. Most won’t make it to the highest levels, but all of them can build cycling for future generations.
Ezer, the center-back, is that guy.
Over the years, Ezer has emerged as the team leader. He’s earned that position not because he’s the strongest cyclist but because he’s the one all the riders most respect. He operates from a place of wanting to do and be better. The team knows he cares about them but also knows he will push them to reach their potential.
Ezer has taken every mechanic course offered. He’s paid attention in all my yoga classes, and one day, when I wasn’t feeling well, he offered to teach. He was amazing! And where did he get that flexibility? Ezer makes himself valuable to all of us. The biggest, strongest guy on the team is also the softest-spoken and kindest. He’s everything we should all aspire to be on and off the bike.
Leadership Matters
In January last year, I had just arrived in Porto Novo for an intense training block ahead of a series of races culminating with the Tour du Benin later that spring. From the minute I walked into the house, I felt something was off. You know when your team is not working in sync. That’s what I felt. To have 20+ kids in a house with training, meals, testing, yoga, and just life happening, everyone must help.
That was not happening.
Adrien was frustrated. I was tired. We were pushing the boulder uphill. Adrien took a nap, and I walked up the road to my favorite air-conditioned restaurant to have a beer and regroup. The riders could sense our frustration, but I didn’t think anything had sunk in until I got a message from Ezer halfway to the restaurant.
“Good evening coach. I come on behalf of all the runners to ask you for an apology for the bad behavior of some of us. I have just held a meeting with everyone so that we know that you and the entire course are not happy with the behavior that we adopt. I try to talk about (it with them) because I’m also not happy. You have objectives for us, bringing us towards high professionalism. Again, our apologies and I promise you that it will change firth now. Thank you for everything you do for us to experience cycling.”
That was it. I came back, gave Ezer a big hug, and we all went back to business. There was no drama. It was all handled internally, spearheaded by their leader. I never asked Ezer to talk to the team. All I wanted to do was get a beer and figure out my next move.
I went up to bed and said a silent prayer of gratitude. This is what I want them to learn most, and this is what matters in the long run. Wins will be forgotten, but what happened that night built leaders. They will be great long after I’m gone.
Ezer’s Future
This year, we’ve started looping Ezer into more coaching responsibilities to continue his training for life after competitive cycling. He’s working with the young riders coming into the system now, which is perfect because he’s strong enough to ride with them so he can teach them on the bike.
When Adrien was putting together the Team List for the Tour du Benin, he told me he wanted Ezer to race again this year with the newer team of young riders. Ezer is in the best shape of his life and wanted to race another Tour du Benin. And in the first stage he rocked up with a 13th place finish on the stage, the first Benin rider over the finish line.
A while back, I remarked to Ezer how impressed I was with his ever-improving English. Benin is Francophone, and every time I returned, it was better. He said, “I wanted to talk to you, and you know, your French is very bad, and I don’t think it will get better.” Brutal honesty. But he had a point. I’m so thankful he learned English for his wider career opportunities and so I could have the privilege of getting to know this man who will forever be a part of Benin cycling.
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