22 June 2022 – INEOS is investing in the development of a new cycling academy in Kenya, deepening its commitment to sport in Africa.
Athletes getting to grips with bikes at the Kaptagat training camp
In partnership with multiple Grand-Tour-winning cycling team, INEOS Grenadiers, and double Olympic champion and world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge the teams are working together to create the new academy at the renowned Kaptagat camp - Eliud Kipchoge’s Kenyan training centre.
INEOS Chairman, Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: “There is such exciting sporting talent, passion and ambition in Africa and at INEOS we want to continue to invest to help realise its maximum potential. I visited the Kaptagat facility in Kenya recently and came away convinced that this partnership can do something truly different and unique for cycling – as well as for aspiring young African athletes.”
INEOS’ Director of Sport and INEOS Grenadiers Team Principal, Sir Dave Brailsford said: “This is a significant and exciting development in world cycling - it has the power to drive lasting change by developing new riders from Africa. We all know the talent is there – we’ve seen it this year with Biniam Girmay’s history-making successes at the Giro d’Italia and Gent-Wevelgem, and I saw it first-hand in the inspiring young athletes I met in Kaptagat. Their passion, dedication and love of sport is a perfect fit with the INEOS Grenadiers’ spirit of giving it all to race and be your best. Together I believe we can achieve something unique and important for cycling in Kenya, Africa, and the sport itself.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Eliud Kipchoge at the Kaptagat training camp
Eliud Kipchoge said: "I'm proud that we are expanding our Kaptagat based training camp from a purely athletics focussed training camp towards a wider kind of sports academy. The INEOS Eliud Kipchoge Cycling Academy is a very natural fit with great potential to enable our young talented cyclists to make the next steps towards the top level of cycling."
The INEOS Eliud Kipchoge Cycling Academy will be headed up by Valentijn Trouw and the wider Kaptagat team. Trouw has over 30 years’ experience in identifying and nurturing long distance running talent in Kenya, creating a pathway for some of the greatest distance runners ever to compete on the world stage. It is the ambition of this project to utilise this knowledge, combined with that of the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team, to create a world-class, sustainable academy in Kenya.
Celebrating the new cycling academy at the Kaptagat training camp with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Eliud Kipchoge, Sir Dave Brailsford, Valentijn Trouw and athletes from the NN Running Team
Valentijn Trouw, Performance Director Global Sports Communication, said: “We work with the great potential of east African long-distance runners for over 30 years, and I believe the exceptional local endurance talent combined with the great training environment at Kaptagat will be perfect for developing quality cyclists. Working together with Sir Dave Brailsford, the INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team and tapping into the broader INEOS sporting family will bring us the world’s best practice in competitive cycling.”
“I am excited by the opportunity to build a relatively new sport in Kenya, bringing together our collective knowledge and insights from running and cycling for the benefit of the sport.”
ENDS
Image credit: INEOS / GSC
Media contacts
INEOS: Sophie Galasinski, +44 7920 364 286, sophie.galasinski@ineos.com
GSC: Marleen Vink – Rennings, +316 53 34 07 55, marleen@gscmail.nl