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Kenyan's top gravel cyclist dies at Vermont Overland Race in the USA

Kenyan cyclist Suleiman Kangangi, 33, died after a crash at high speed during the Overland gravel race in Vermont last Saturday

Sule Kangangi was among the first in Kenya to discover cycling as a sport.

The 59-mile (95-km) dirt road race includes almost 7,000 feet (2,134 m) of climbing. About 900 cyclists were competing on Saturday in the race that begins and ends in the community of Brownsville in the town of West Windsor.

Team Amani said in a statement "Sule is our captain, friend, brother. He is also a father, husband and son. Gaping holes are left when giants fall. Sule was a giant. Instead of leading us at the front of the pack, he will now lead us as our guiding pole star as we press forward in the realization of his dream.”

Amani’s John Kariuki won Saturday’s race while teammate Jordan Schleck finished third.

Sule Paved the Way for African Cyclists

A good 10 years ago, Sule pioneered the sport of cycling in Kenya, a country known for their world class runner's.

Sule Kangangi was among the first in Kenya to discover cycling as a sport. Born in Eldoret, not far from the runner's town of Iten, he was ridiculed for it by the other youngsters.  
 
As a child, he was borrowed by his parents for 8 dollars a month to supervise cattle on the pasture. Playing sports as a youth, coming home hungry and thus not contributing to the family income, hard to imagine.  

But Sule prevailed, becoming the first Kenyan to finish on the podium at the Tour du Rwanda, paving the way for riders like Salim Kipkemboi to follow. He traveled around the world with BIKE AID in recent years, racing in China or Saudi Arabia, and was allowed to compete with the greats of the Tour de France in the Tour of the Alps or the Route d'Occitaniea. He became a professional athlete.

The avid rider was also a philanthropist, having raised hundreds of thousands of shillings for orphanages by cycling for 1000 kilometers from Nairobi to Mombasa and back.

VIDEO: Suleiman's Story

Team Amani is formed of riders from Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. Kangangi finished third in the Tour du Rwanda in 2017, and later found success in gravel racing. He was active in growing cycling in Kenya and hosted clinics and school events around Nairobi.

Rachel Ruto, the wife of president-elect William Ruto of Kenya, “My heartfelt condolences to his family, and the entire cycling community, that has lost a talented cyclist, a mentor and a friend,” she wrote. “We will all miss him as an individual. Kenya has lost a champion. Rest in peace Sule.”

“Vermont Overland is heartbroken by the tragic death of Suleiman ‘Sule’ Kangangi during The Overland yesterday,” Ansel Dickey, owner of Vermont Overland, said in a statement on Sunday. “He was a kind friend and an inspiring and heroic athlete to his teammates and the gravel cycling community at large. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, his friends, Team Amani, and the people of Kenya who are mourning his loss today.”

Rest in peace Sule. Amen.