Tour De Lunsar – Sierra Leone – 18th April 2024 to 21st April 2024
Last year, Re-Cycle partnered with Village Bicycle Project in Sierra Leone, providing bicycles for their local community and cyclists. Working closely with Karim, who is also the captain and founder of Lunsar Cycling Team, we have initiated a significant impact.
Lunsar Cycling Team: “In the few short years since our inception in 2015, we have gone from strength to strength in racing and community spirit. There are now more than 30 promising young riders on our team, making Lunsar Cycling Team the largest club in the country, also boasting the biggest women’s membership of any club in Sierra Leone.”
This year Re-Cycle attended the Tour De Lunsar to see our bikes in action.
DAY 1 – April 18th, 2024
The Tour De Lunsar commenced with the junior race, marking the beginning of this year’s event with excitement and anticipation, showcasing the future of the sport in Sierra Leone. Over seventy junior athletes raced through the streets of Lunsar, covering a route of one bonus and ten laps to Rogbere town, back to Lunsar, totalling five laps, accumulating sixteen laps in total in today’s ride.
Lunsar Cycling Team secured the first and third positions, while the second position was won by a team from Freetown. Notable attendees included Sallay Bongo and the Northwest Regional football chairman, ambassador Abdul Osman Turay, also known as Mr. AOT, who awarded the podium finishers.
The CEO and founder of the Tour De Lunsar, Mr. Abdul Karim Kamara, expressed gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of the first day of this year’s events.
DAY 2 – April 19th, 2024
The men’s elite race took place today with 49 cyclists from across Sierra Leone and beyond participating in a gruelling 104km road race. Full of dramatic sprints, crashes, and high tempo aggression, the race finished with a sprint to the finish line after 3 hours and 30 minutes of racing. The crowd was even larger than the previous day, creating an electric atmosphere.
DAY 3 – April 20th, 2024
The women’s race kicked off the day’s events, featuring teams from Lunsar, Freetown, Benin, and others.
They rode to Port Loko and back in a competitive race which saw 30 riders participating in the 71.5 km race. The Benin women secured all three podium places.
Following was the under 12s race, where many of the bikes used were from Re-Cycle, with 15 boys and 15 girls participating. Podium places were to be awarded the following day. Lastly, it was the second elite men’s race from Lunsar to Makeni and back, totalling 140kms. Another hot and high tempo race with Tenesie Dixon, the captain of Flames cycling team from Freetown, winning this stage. Nigeria defended the race lead, but Sierra Leone stole the show.
