Ibrahim jalloh
In our second instalment in our Lunsar Cycling Team rider profiles we talk to one of our most talented racers, Ibrahim Jalloh. A youngster brimming with talent, Ibrahim is a very promising rider who has already raced for the Sierra Leone National Team.
We caught up with Ibrahim to ask him how his training was going and his aspirations for the future.
With the help of dedicated backers and kit sponsor Le Col, who created a beautiful jersey for the national riders, Ibrahim was able to join four other riders at the 2019 Tour de Guinea. The Sierra Leone squad filled its maximum allocation and faced teams of riders from all over West Africa competing in their national colours.
Ibrahim (L) representing Sierra Leone at the 2019 Tour de Guinea.
It is a huge honour for any sportsman to compete for their nation and that pride extended to everyone who is part of the Lunsar Cycling Team. At the race itself Ibrahim was struck by some racing bad luck and was involved in a crash that damaged his wheels. Such is the talent of the young rider that he ended up finishing nineteenth out of forty riders.
Our great extended community came together and before we had time to lament the damage caused by the crash, a fresh pair had already been donated from the UK.
A disappointing end for a team with high aspirations but this was the first race outside of the country for the Sierra Leone national team since the outbreak of Ebola in 2015. Ibrahim has helped in a big way to put the nation back on the map in African cycling.
Ibrahim pulls on the front of the chasing pack at the 2019 Tour de Lunsar.
He looked to be our strongest rider but bad luck would ultimately decide his race for him.
Like so many of our rider Ibrahim has had to face the disappointment of the cancellation of the 2020 Tour de Lunsar but he is still taking training in his stride.
“When you train and race you see if you are improving.”
“We now train in three’s or fours, and not in fives or sixes to be on the safer side,” says Ibrahim in regard to his adapted training methods. Cyclists all around the world are changing their methods and many have moved their exercise indoors thanks to turbo trainers and rollers. The Lunsar Cycling team is no different and thanks to generation donations, riders such as Ibrahim can use rollers at home alongside their normal routines.
Ibrahim is committed to keeping up this schedule but as he says, “when you train and race you see if you are improving.” That improvement may be less obvious without any racing, but the bike is still helping to keep his fitness and morale up.
Ibrahim’s Tour de Lunsar was cut short by a mechanical and he was forced to climb off at Port Loko.
“The Tour de Lunsar is the biggest race in the country. We are seeing different spectators coming international to watch this race.”
There are high hopes for cycling in Sierra Leone and there is no reason why the sky cannot be the limit.
“The Tour de Lunsar is the biggest race in the country. We are seeing different spectators coming international to watch this race,” Ibrahim explains. The race is evolving and boosting cycling in the area, it may not be running this year, but talented racers such as Ibrahim will no doubt be lined up and ready on the start line when it returns.
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