Two weeks from now, and 301 days before the UCI Road World Championships descend on the African continent for the first time, Jan Bakelants will ride his gravel bike on a seven-day challenge in Rwanda. It's not a race, but a reason to raise funds for youth education in Rwanda.
In a collaboration with Vélo Afrique and Plan International Belgium, Bakelants will join two dozen other riders on a supported 431km ride with 7,253 metres of elevation gain from east Rwanda through volcanic landscapes, red dirt roads and forests, beginning on November 23. The final day in Kigali is expected to include a segment up the Wall of Kigali, a famous cobbled climb in the UCI stage race Tour du Rwanda that will be part of the 15.1km circuit at the Road Worlds next September.
For Bakelants, the event is not about conquering gravel climbs and crossing volcanic terrain, but championing "fair education for every Rwandan child". Using an online crowdfunding platform, Bakelants is drawing attention to improve fair education for every child in Rwanda, especially young girls, and "help the construction of a new school".
"With the World Championships coming in 2025, we want to raise awareness for the still vulnerable situation in which girls live in this country. We know the key to solve this is proper education. The funds raised through the participants should help the construction of a new school," Bakelants, who has switched from road racing to gravel racing in the past two years, told Cyclingnews.
Vélo Afrique arranges for the cycling adventure, which includes camping each night. The group uses trips for fundraising projects with the non-profit organisation Bonjour Afrique, which coordinates and monitors social projects in Africa. Plan International Belgium, the other partner in this effort, is a humanitarian organisation that 'defends equality for girls in order to seek a better future for all children'.
The gravel challenge will be Bakelants' first trip to Africa, after a 15-year pro road career ended in 2022 and he transitioned to gravel pursuits. He had a pair of finishes at Unbound Gravel (14th in 2023) and top 10s in a number of UCI Gravel World Series races, including Gravel Fondo Limburg and Wörthersee Gravel in 2024.
"This will be my first km's on a bike on the African continent. It is quite exciting," the Belgian said in a message to Cyclingnews. "I have no idea what to expect, how good is the infrastructure, how challenging are the gravel roads, how testing is the climate? All in all, it will give me great insight into how hard the 2025 Worlds will be for the pros.
"Organising this World Championships is a big event for Rwanda to showcase itself to the world. It can also create awareness for things we can help them improve with."
The UCI Road World Championshipships will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, September 21-28, 2025. Bakelants, a WorldTour veteran with 15 Grand Tour appearances, competed in five road world championships during his road career, and now has one appearance at the UCI Gravel World Championships, finishing 21st in 2023. Now 38 years old and with fewer race days on the gravel circuit, he has time for philanthropic interests.
"Since I stopped [road racing], it has been a yearly thing to raise funds and create awareness for good causes. Last year I cycled from north to south through Sri Lanka in 18 hours, together with Piotr Havik. We did this to raise funds for the Liv Foundation," he added.
Rwanda has hosted a multi-day UCI stage race since 2009, which has grown to attract ProTeams and national teams from around the globe. This past season the country was scheduled to host their first UCI Gravel World Series race, Gorilla Gravel, in June.
The qualifier for the UCI Gravel World Championships was billed as the hardest challenge on the calendar, with a 108km course and 2,685 metres of climbing. However, the event was cancelled due to "too many circumstances that made it impossible to run the race" and the event has been rescheduled for June 7, 2025.
Bakelants departs for Rwanda in two weeks, the adventure taking place November 23-30, but his crowdsourcing efforts are underway online, with contributions accepted for the next month.
