14 Oct 2026

Botswana Cycling Association (BCA) has announced a team of cyclists for the 2026 CAC African Road Cycling  Championships.

The cycling championships will be held in Kisumu, Kenya from October 21 to 25.

The eight-member team comprises elite males in Thabiso Mokalake, who will also serve as the team captain and Abeng Malete, Gomolemo Kealotswe (U23 male), and junior males, Otlametse Maswabi and Ted Makgetho.

The female team comprises elite women, Nonofo Maswabi and Lobopo Kono and junior woman, Hope Mathiba. The team will be accompanied by team mechanic, Mmoloki Motlhankanyane as well as coach David Lebalelo and team manager, Game Mompe.

The championship features individual time trials (ITT), a mixed team relay and road races, and team Botswana will participate in all disciplines.

The ITT will feature junior men and women races over 10.2 km and 20.4km as well as elite and U23 women races over 30.6 km, as well as elite and U23 men races over 40.8 km respectively.

The mixed team relay will feature elite and U23 races over 40.8 km.

The ultimate championship, which is the road race, features men youth race at 58.6km, women youth riding at 38.2km, with women and men juniors riding 69.2km and 120km respectively.

Elite women will ride 122.2km race, while elite and U23 men will endure a 175.2 km race for the African Road title.

“These races require endurance, discipline, tactical intelligence and teamwork. The event requires coordination and teamwork,” said coach Lebalelo.

However, he said he was confident that his riders would give their best as they would be competing against Africa’s best.

Lebalelo also has appealed to government, corporate partners, sponsors and sporting stakeholders to invest more resources in cycling, saying with proper resources, good planning and sustained support, they could build competitive teams and achieved better results.

Meanwhile, BCA also announced a P200, 000 sponsorship from Lucara Botswana.

BCA president Kagiso Potongwane said the sponsorship agreement between the BCA and Lucara Botswana was a commitment to excellence in sport development.

He expressed gratitude to Lucara’s investment, adding that it extended beyond cycling to encompass the development of talent and communities in Botswana.

“This partnership comes at a very critical and exciting time for our sport, cycling. The support provided by Lucara Botswana will contribute significantly to the preparations and participation of our team in major regional and international competitions,” Potongwane said.

Potongwane said the support had boosted their athletes and technical team, allowing them to compete confidently while representing Botswana in Kenya.

He said their aim was not just to participate, but to cultivate a culture of excellence, improve athlete performance, enhance competitiveness and position Botswana as a distinguished entity in cycling within Africa. ENDS