No relevant scientific study claims that dark-skinned people are less gifted for professional cycling. There is research that points to genetic variants that would position athletes from West Africa ahead of those from elsewhere in sprinting. But even that would not explain why a country like Jamaica generates so many great sprinters; It would be to ignore the enormous investment in infrastructure and human capital that the Caribbean island has been making for decades.
The very rare presence of black riders in the history of cycling is due to socio-economic and cultural reasons. This sport requires some investment that is not – and has not been – available to young people in many African countries. To this should be added aspects such as the climate, the orography or the absence of proper roads. Furthermore, many blacks in developed countries have seen the bicycle as a symbol of poverty and marginalization.
Gone are those days when, when someone brought up this debate, another alluded to Marshall Taylor, the Black Cyclone, an American cyclist of color who marveled the world at the end of the 19th century, although he was treated as a circus attraction.
Things are changing little by little: in 2011, the Tour de France welcomed its first black participant, Yohann Gène, a Frenchman from the island of Guadeloupe. A year later, Eritrean Daniel Teklehaymanot inaugurated the same statistics in the Vuelta Ciclista a España. Teklehaymanot also made headlines at the 2015 Tour de France, donning the King of the Mountain polka dot jersey for one day.
Today, young Africans who win sub-23 tests are no longer the exception, which heralds their imminent explosion. As five-time Tour champion Bernard Hinault predicted: “Africans are the next Colombians.”
Image (Channone Arif / CC 2.0): Eritrean Daniel Teklehaymanot has established himself in professional cycling, and this year he has participated again in the Tour de France.
