2016 is going to be a very busy year for Cameroonian cyclists as they are expected to take part in 12 national and international competitions within the year. First will be the Grand Prix Seme Beach Hotel in Limbe on January 9th to kick start activities for the season. The race will be a criterium within the alleys of the coastal city of Limbe and prior to the race there will be a training session for journalists on how to cover cycling races.
After the Grand Prix Seme Beach Hotel will be the Tropical Amissa Bongo which will take place from January 18th to 24th. The particularity of the Tropical Amissa Bongo is that the race will make an incursion into Cameroon with two lapses on January 21st and 22nd. In order to make the two lapses to be run between Oyem and Ambam and Meyo Kie-Oyem, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education on December 22 put in place a local organization committee to take care of aspects such as security, logistics, transport, lodging, protocol, health and communication.
The third competition of the year 2016 will be the second edition of the all field race, ‘velo tout terrain’ to take place in Yaounde on February 11th. This will be followed by the Challenge of the West to be run between Bafoussam and Dschang on March 5th and will serve as a prelude to the big event which is the 13th edition of the cycling tour of Cameroon.
The greatest event of the year will be the International Cycling Tour of Cameroon to take place from 12th to 20th, 2016 with Cameroon determined to conserve the yellow jersey won in the last edition by Kamzong Abessolo. The referee of the competition has already been designated by the international Cycling Union in the person of Frenchman, Michaud Max.
It is worthy to mention that some 20 cyclists are in camp already in preparation for the Tropical Amissa Bongo and the International Cycling Tour of Cameroon. Cameroon will also be taking part in other continental competitions such as the Tour of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and the first edition of the cycling race for Francophone African countries with the climax in Paris.