Kansanshi Cycling Team

The Kansanshi Sports Foundation was set up in 2014 by FQM’s Kansanshi Mining Plc, as part of the mine’s broader goal of supporting and enriching the communities in and around Solwezi. It gives youth the opportunity to pursue sports in the absence of official programmes in Zambian schools. Cycling was the very first sport the foundation started developing.

Sport in the Foundation starts at the grassroots level, empowering and educating youth through coaching, mentorship, and providing resources. Promising athletes then move into the Elite teams, giving them the opportunity to travel nationally and internationally for competition. They continue their education through university and receive a salary.

The Foundation currently has deaf- and hearing-cycling, rowing, netball, football, swimming and deaf- and hearing- athletics programmes for men and women. Cycling and football are our most successful programmes, each with their share of Continental Champions, Commonwealth Games participants, and National Champions, all of whom came from impoverished and rural backgrounds.

Follow the link below to view a segment featuring our rider Gift Puteho in the mountain bike industry’s biggest feature film of 2022: Esperanto, directed by Emmy-award winner Jeremy Grant:

https://vimeo.com/728255502/2612fd8871

Kansanshi Cycling Team is a group of four projects:

The Race Team

Our race team is comprised of Zambia’s top 20 men and women. After graduating high school, each rider receives a salary, housing, food, and an allowance for continuing their education. Additionally, they travel nationally and internationally for racing. This year, team members raced in South Africa, podiuming at the Route 66 MTb and School Series events, went to Namibia for their national MTB series, and traveled to the Commonwealth Games in the U.K. to compete in Road and MTB. Additionally, Gift Puteho visited the United States to attend the Esperanto global premiere and is traveling to Europe to attend the European Outdoor Film Tour.

Solwezi Schools Cycling Program

Providing cycling programs to 8 schools in Solwezi. Our school cycling program provides coached cycling sessions as well as maintenance support and some equipment to 8 schools in Solwezi.

The program is extremely selective, taking only 5 top performing (in both sport and academics) students from each community school. Those who excel in the program are considered for the race team.

On any given weekday day, our coaches serve 150 young cyclists in Solwezi.

The Bicycle Revival Project

Bicycles are a primary form of transportation for Zambians and can make the difference between having enough money for essentials or not. The Bicycle Revival Project sets out to ‘revive’ the hundreds of broken bicycles around Solwezi’s communities.

A team travels to a different area each week, makes an assessment of the broken bikes, and purchases the necessary spare parts. The team then returns to the community the following week to guide the bicycle owners in repairing their own bikes. This doubles as a lesson in maintenance.

Kansanshi Bike Shop

The Kansanshi Bike shop keeps the cyclist’s and community riders’ bicycles in good condition and also provides jobs for those interested in becoming a mechanic. Last year, we sent our head mechanic to South Africa to receive training and certification in bicycle maintenance. He now trains others in the craft while running the shop and training with the race team.