The CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation Women’s Continental Cycling Team, the development team for its World Tour namesake made a truly historic announcement for African cycling – the hire of rising star Tsige Kahsay Kiros from Ethiopia on a three year contract.
The news broke this morning exclusively on CyclingNews (by us!) and Tsige is very much looking forward to officially joining CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation in just over one month’s time:
“For 2026, I hope I am going to have good races and good times with the team. From now on, I want better results than before. I’m going to race with bigger teams, but I hope I can still make results. Thank you so much, CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto, for giving me this opportunity.”
Africa 2025 Program Phenom
At just 18 years old, Kahsay Kiros however has been making incredible progress over the last 12-18 months, both for her domestic Mesfin Cycling Team, and with the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) as part of their ‘Africa 2025’ programme which focused on getting young athletes as ready as possible for the World Championships, hosted in Kigali (Rwanda).
Tsige was represented in this move by super-agent Alex Carera – agent of her heroes Pogacar and Girmay – with Girmay advising her and guiding her in her native Tigrinya language. Her progress is tracking that of Girmay very closely, with both joining the WCC at 18 and both winning the African Continental Championship Junior Road Race the same year.
Kahsay Kiros is in fact a year ahead now in that it took Girmay two years with the WCC to secure his first pro team deal. We caught up with Biniam to hear his views on her move:
“I am very proud that Tsige becomes a cycling professional like me! Our path into professional cycling is very similar as when I arrived in Europe from Eritrea, I also rode for the World Cycling Centre team, and lived in Aigle [Switzerland – HQ of the UCI]. I truly wish her the very best for next year, and for her career.”
Burst onto the scene at the 2024 Tour of Tigray
Kahsay Kiros first came to our attention in early 2024, when she won the famous Tour of Tigray, doing so as a seventeen year old rider! She then did the same in early 2025, winning every stage (but one, she came second!) and every jersey.
Her good friend, Ethiopia and Mesfin’s Team Mechanic Daniel Gebreamlack alerted us to her potential and we spoke with Mr Tesema Gidey, the CEO of Mesfin Metals Engineering, and the Supervisor of their support of the Mesfin Cycling Team, who had this to say about Tsige:
“I saw Tsige for the first time when she was taking part in competition in her district. She raced so well and that’s when I realized that she had the courage and strength needed to succeed. Her excellent performance at the Tour de l’Avenir made me very happy and excited, the future is very bright for her. I am sure that she will one day win the Women’s Tour de France because she is only 18 years old and has a unique talent: namely the ability to combine climbing and sprinting.”
Importance to African Women’s Cycling
We have been tracking and reporting her progress on our African Women’s Cycling new-wire all year. Team Africa Rising’s CEO Kimberly Coats explains:
“Tsige’s meteoric rise has been years in the making. We’ve always known that the talent is on the continent. Tsige’s success is yet more proof of this. She has overcome many challenges to reach her dream of racing in a professional peloton. She’s persistent, focused, and willing to risk everything on the road. She is already inspiring the next generation of African women, and I predict we’ll see more young African girls following her pedal strokes!“
Since 2009, we have seen very good growth in African cycling overall, however women’s cycling included only four African countries on the Africa Tour back then. By the end of the 2025 season, that number had increased to 17 countries, representing a 325% rise in women’s cycling, compared to a 40% growth rate for men over the same period.
Kahsay Kiros became the Ethiopian Women’s Junior Champion in June and joined the WCC programme, racing and training in Brittany over the summer. In July, she met her hero – Tadej Pogacar – at the Tour de France, with him giving her his winner’s flowers and lion. She carries this lion with her at all times!
Tour de l’Avenir Surprise Success
She then hit the Tour de l’Avenir in August. This race is known as the ‘baby Tour’ and showcases the very best junior talent in the world. She raced as the ‘WCC Team’ and quite simply, the aim was for her to finish some stages, show a little of what she has, and finish the race. Tsige had other ideas…
Finishing #38 in the opening prologue (of 96 riders), she then went on to be top 30 in all of the six stages, won the Most Combative prize on Stage 3, finished #22 in the overall GC, #11 in the U23 category, #12 in the QOM and was the FIRST 18 year old in the race. Suddenly there was a lot of attention heading her way. In our World Championships predictions, we called her out as the best chance of a top African performance, and she duly delivered in sensational style!
UCI World Championships
She attacked the world’s best Juniors over and over, blowing the peloton apart, finally tiring on the last climb, but then gritting her teeth and coming back to the main group, finishing #7 overall from 77 riders!
UCI President David Lappartient spoke proudly and passionately about Tsige on the finish line, describing how she was a recent discovery and a key rider in the Africa 2025 programme, and called it ‘a huge moment’ for African cycling as she put in such a strong performance. Race commentator Anthony McCrossan was watching the race, and spotted her talent immediately, he explains:
“It’s great to see the promise shown by Tsige in the World Championships recognised by a team at World Tour level. Her performance and climbing ability shone on the road race. With a development set up I hope they will be able to progress her at a rate she can deal with and that we see her climbing the mountains in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift sometime in the future.”
Tsige on the Radar of Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto Generation
A star was truly born that day. CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation Sports Director Gosia Jasinska was there watching as well, and explains her thoughts on seeing Tsige in action:
“She is a very talented African rider. I saw her for the first time at Tour de l’Avenir, where she raced against U23 riders. I remember the second-last stage – she crashed and had to stop, and I was following the Polish national riders in the car. Tsige started behind their group, and on the long climb she caught and then dropped them. She was very impressive in the climbs. That was the moment I thought, ‘wow, she is a very good rider.’ I was very impressed with her.”
CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation have been one of the most supportive pro teams for African female riders since their inception in 2022, taking eight African female riders onto their squad in this time. The team is well organised, responsive and supportive and will give this rising star incredible support, as Jasinka explains:
For sure she will be one of the strongest climbers in our team, but we must continue to slowly develop her as a rider. Helping her with her aspects like her skills on the bike, race tactics, living and racing more often in Europe and even her confidence with English. We will learn from each other, and she can be a key part of the team. I think it will be a very big point to work with the girls together. These are the first steps for us to develop and assess, especially when everyone meets in the first training camps.”
World Championships Becomes Defining Moment
From that moment, we started fielding calls from World Tour devo teams and Women’s Continental teams. The Ethiopian Federation was also getting hit hard, everyone saw real potential. Kim Le Court, after watching the race, allegedly told her team to hire Tsige! A competitive battle began, and we are most pleased she chose to join CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation for the 2026 season.
Closing out 2025 as African Continental Champion
She then followed this up with the double at the African Continental Cycling Championships in Kenya last week, winning both the Women’s Junior ITT and Road Race champion jerseys. Her win rate is truly remarkable.
The transition from young African star to the highly competitive international cycling scene will be a major move for her, but those who know her describe Tsige has being incredibly focused and professional since a young age, a good friend said “she has an old head on a young body!”
Check our her ProCyclingStats profile and give her a follow on Instagram to keep an eye on this rising star’s journey. We shall make this prediction: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift race start by end of 2028. Let us see….
