As we anticipate the 2025 Road World Championships in Kigali, we once again encounter David Louvet, a Frenchman from Normandy, contacted during a break in the training camp for the national teams preparing in Musanze. 200 km from the capital, at the African Rising Center, the host country's national teams are approaching the historic event under the watchful eye of the sports director (previously responsible for the Caen Training Center in Calvados) who arrived in Rwanda in 2023.

Let's retrace that arrival?

"The technical sector of the French federation had received a request from their Rwandan counterparts, looking for a coach, and the choice fell on me, especially since I had previously followed projects in Sudan, a very enriching human experience. After years at the Normandy committee and the Espoir Center, I enthusiastically embraced this new equatorial experience, supported by my wife. A new beginning after turning 50 and with grown children."

And Rwanda's approach to these world championships?

"Since the world championship in Glasgow, with an Olympic parenthesis in France that naturally held special meanings for me, we've seen signs that make us optimistic. Don't ask me for proclamations in terms of results, but what I sense is the enthusiasm of boys and girls motivated to give 110 percent and more on home roads."

By the way, let's satisfy our curiosity: is the world championship route as daunting as they say?

"Indeed, it's extremely tough, spectacular with cobblestones and characterized midway by a long loop including Mount Kigali. Add to that we're racing at 1500 meters altitude, and I wouldn't be surprised if fewer than thirty professionals finish the race."

Returning to the Rwandan national team, how do you plan to stand out?

"It depends on the categories and competitions we're talking about, obviously. We can do well in the mixed event and more, leveraging the growth of our riders with fundamental international experiences, I'm thinking of the promising Jazilla Mwamikazi, whom I had the chance to follow in Paris 2024 when she was doing mountain biking."

At the 2025 Tour du Rwanda, you animated many long breakaways...

"It could be an option to replicate. I like to remember when at the Games I proposed two options to Eric Manizabayo: finish the race or move early. He ended up in the morning breakaway that lasted 170 km and 4 hours, experiencing indescribable emotions in Montmartre."

And gifting it to his DS, who discovered talents like Kevin Vauquelin, Benoit Cosnefroy, or Marion Bunel: feeling nostalgic?

"It'll be nice to see her again, hopefully as a protagonist here, since the course suits her. I'm totally focused on the mission I've been entrusted with. Only from the inside can you grasp the significance of what it means for this Country and this Continent to host the World Championships, leaving behind the overall growth of the movement."

Does the rule apply: distribute bikes and champions will be born?

"I'd say that here in Kigali, where all African nations will want to interpret the dynamics of internal continental rivalry, any promotional effort today can produce unexpected and unforeseeable effects in the medium term. Yet planning is everything. We've also focused on structuring a multi-category cycling proposal with events, transferring local knowledge in terms of preparation and tactical interpretation. When the level of sports diffusion and a qualified calendar align, no limits should be set."

So, could the new Girmay be Rwandan?

"I would more likely predict the emergence of climbers, but the athletic potential observed is somehow immense (symbolized by those pedaling while carrying large weights like bundles or milk cans on the rear rack, ed.) and unexpressed. However, from direct experience, I can say that ensuring the most capable can race in Europe not only provides motivational stimuli but develops new skills to be transferred in performance."

How to get used to a large group?

"I would expand the discussion to all African cycling and say that one of the legacies of these world championships will be to promote a true international calendar outside the continent for more cyclists, recognizing the fundamental role played by the World Cycling Center that selects the best talents in Paarl, South Africa. The rest, not insignificant, is done by the growth of races in the African calendar, the virtuous example of Rwanda, where our athletes annually compete in the prestigious stage race alongside professional European and other teams, including development World Tour squads."

And how has David Louvet adapted to Kigali?

"Very well. I've rented an apartment and experienced the welcoming character of this vibrant city, where you perceive a great willingness to engage with a Westerner. My interlocutors go out of their way to ensure everything goes well for me, combining human warmth and discretion."

In the lush garden of the lodge in Musanze, it's time for the group photo. For us, a farewell: "à bientôt, David!"