Tour of Eritrea: Shining like Gold with Eritrean Colors.

Tour of Eritrea: Shining like Gold with Eritrean Colors.

    Overlooking the escarpments and the natural beauty of Eritrea as well as the tough up hill mountains and down hill flat course the tour of Eritrea has proven it is a top notch sporting competition to be reckoned with. In less than 20 years this cycling event has turned into an internationally recognized event by the international cycling union. A success story that has not even gotten a small coverage by the international media that would rather fabricate and write garbage stories about this young and aspiring nation. 

I must say the excellent coverage by Eritrean Television showed not only the race and its dynamics but also the beauty of the nation. Seeing the Eritrean flags moving at high speeds added so much color and with the athleticism of the cyclists flying in light speeds the view was so mesmerizing. Villages and their populations coming out to support and watch and host cyclists from 7 countries along side of Eritrean Teams A & B was absolutely a joy to watch. National cycling teams from Eritrea, Sudan, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia participated in this year’s version of the "Tour Eritrea”. 

Check out the link on Shabait.com for pictures: http://74.63.78.28/Tour%20Eritrea%202009/index.html

As it is cycling is not a very friendly sport for blacks and Africans. As the sport grows, Eritrea is not only contributing to its growth but will soon play a major role by breaking racial barriers. The last time a big name black cyclist won a world champion was many decades ago. In 1899 Major Tyler an American cyclist despite many challenges won the world one-mile track cycling championship after setting numerous world records and overcoming strong racial discrimination. Eritrea as a new and growing African nation is also facing all types of obstacles but will overcome as it has done in the past.

Eritrea has already inspired the next generation of cyclists by creating it’s own event with partnerships from genuine friends. It is not easy to plan, strategize and host an internationally recognized event, however the event was a huge success by any standard. Like it’s nation-building process in every sector of its society the “Tour of Eritrea” is a prime example of what the future holds for the nation of a determined people.

The Tour of Eritrea will host more teams and more fans in the future adding more visitors to the country. Witnesses that will judge for themselves if Eritrea is truly what the amateur journalists say it is. Meanwhile Eritrean national teams kept home the awards from 1st place through 3^rd place while the Moroccan and Egyptian teams stood 4th and 5th respectively.

Congratulations to all those who worked hard to make the event successful. 

Tour schedule: Covers some of Eritrea's cities.


For Eri-International sports blog this is Mike Seium


http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/