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Cycling in Eritrea: Five Photos That Capture a National Obsession

Eritrea has one of Africa’s most unique sporting crazes.

Credit: Chris Keulen - The Other Hundred

Takeaways


  • Cycling in Eritrea? These five Photos That Capture a National Obsession.
  • What does cycling mean for Eritrea? Enough to capture the attention of around 1/3rd of the population.

Chris Keulen is a Dutch documentary photographer, interested in and concerned by the small stories of daily life.

Cycling is immensely popular in Eritrea. Every weekend, thousands of amateurs speed along isolated roads, over mountain passes and across deserts. Between them, the country’s 6 million people own some 500,000 bicycles.

The sport’s event of the year is the “Giro dell’Eritrea,” a 700-mile, 10-stage event, that is Africa’s oldest cycle race. It was first organized in 1946 by the country’s Italian expatriate community, but with local people barred from entering.

Political unrest led to the race being cancelled the following year, and it was only resurrected 54 years later in 2001, ten years after Eritrea had secured its independence.

The race has been run every year since then – always along roads packed with spectators. The event is a huge celebration in the country, followed by some one-third of the country’s population.

Text by Chris Keulen


 Enlarge   Eritrea’s Daniel Telehaimanot, the country’s most popular cyclist, is mobbed by spectators in front of Asmara’s Roma Theatre after finishing second in the Giro dell’Eritrea.” (Credit: Chris Keulen)

 Enlarge   (Credit: Chris Keulen)

 Enlarge   (Credit: Chris Keulen)

 Enlarge   (Credit: Chris Keulen)

 Enlarge   (Credit: Chris Keulen)


Chris Keulen is a Dutch documentary photographer, interested in and concerned by the small stories of daily life.

The Other Hundred is a unique photo-book project (order here) aimed as a counterpoint to the Forbes 100 and other media rich lists by telling the stories of people around the world who are not rich but who deserve to be celebrated.

Its 100 photo-stories move beyond the stereotypes and cliches that fill so much of the world’s media to explore the lives of people whose aspirations and achievements are at least as noteworthy as any member of the world’s richest 1,000.

Selected from 11,000 images shot in 158 countries and submitted by nearly 1,500 photographers, The Other Hundred celebrates those who will never find themselves on the world’s rich lists or celebrity websites.

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