\u200eNancy Debe, the \u200eTeam Kenya captain at the CAC Road Cycling African Championships is optimistic that the they win medals at the championships that rides off tomorrow in Diani, Kwale, County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Debe said that there will be a showdown in the elite women come Saturday as the country\u2019s finest cyclists gear up for a defining weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The champions kicks off on Thursday morning with Individual Time Trials (ITT) for Junior women, Elite and Mixed events, setting the pace for a weekend packed with high-stakes racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eFriday will see teams contest the mixed relay before junior women and men take on their road races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eSaturday\u2019s spotlight then shifts squarely to the Elite 107.6km and U-23 Women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eSunday brings the curtain down with the Junior Men\u2019s road race and the Elite and U-23 Men\u2019s gruelling 163.8km battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eDebe believes the squad\u2019s rhythm and unity, sharpened in recent continental battles place Kenya in prime position to challenge Africa\u2019s heavyweights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cWe are all pumped up, everyone is ready to see what the other countries will bring,\u201d Debe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eShe further highlighted the positive energy reverberating through the camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cThe athletes have trained very well and are eager to show what they can do on the continental stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eThough confident, Debe acknowledges the unique challenge awaiting the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cKwale is a different ball game, the altitude, terrain and humidity. I\u2019d say it\u2019s a completely new race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eStill, she believes last year\u2019s Eldoret experience will help the team steer through Saturday\u2019s high-stakes contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cLast year was positive for us as Team Kenya because for most of the team it was their first time, especially the ladies. So they saw what they need to do and what they need to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eFollowing their dominant displays at the Africa Women\u2019s Cycling Championship in Burundi, Monica Jelimo and Grace Kaviro will be at the heart of Kenya\u2019s medal hunt as they return to the saddle seeking yet another podium finish on home soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eThe Burundi Championship, held from October 5\u201311, saw Kenya crowned overall winners after a tactical and powerful showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eJelimo clinched silver (2nd overall), while Kaviro sealed bronze (3rd overall).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cI am hoping for a medal and I am very hopeful it happens,\u201d she said, brimming with optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200eEritrea and South Africa remain Kenya\u2019s toughest adversaries, boasting tactical mastery and deep experience, but Jelimo insists Team Kenya has mapped out a strong response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cWe have studied their game and we will try and stick with them during the race then see who wins,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eAt the 2024 African Championships in Eldoret, South Africa\u2019s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio claimed gold, with Eritrea\u2019s Adiam Dawit and Rwanda\u2019s Diane Ingabire finishing second and third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eTo elevate Kenyan cycling, Jelimo believes the country must look beyond the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cWe need to get opportunities to do international races, go to Europe and compete against some top athletes in high-level races. I think that will give us much-needed exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200eShe adds that the team\u2019s preparations between Burundi and Diani have been timely and effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cWe are just from Burundi where we secured an overall win for Team Kenya and straight away we are here in Diani for the African championships,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200e\u200e\u201cWe have been training in different regions of the country before coming to Diani this week to have a couple of days to acclimatize.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u200eNancy Debe, the \u200eTeam Kenya captain at the CAC Road Cycling African Championships is optimistic that the they win medals at the championships that rides off tomorrow in Diani, Kwale, County. Debe said that there will be a showdown in the elite women come Saturday as the country\u2019s finest cyclists gear up for a defining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":47153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2353,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-other-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kenya-cyclists-and-riders-in-kwale-Diani.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1?v=1763576220","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92Nno-cgm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysport.co.ke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}