AFRICAN PHENOM TSIGE KAHSAY KIROS JOINS TEAM GENERATION

CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation are thrilled to secure one of the most exciting cycling prospects coming out of Africa, Tsige Kahsay Kiros, until 2028.

Last week, she closed out her impressive 2025 season with the junior time trial and road race double at the African Continental Championships, and now looks forward to officially joining CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation in just over one month’s time.

“For 2026, I hope I’m going to have good races and good times with the team. From now on, I want better results than before. I’m going to race with bigger teams, but I hope I can still make results. Thank you so much, CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto, for giving me this opportunity.”

Tsige made an instant impression on live broadcasts at the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, announcing herself on the global cycling stage with an aggressive and courageous ride that saw her place seventh in the Junior Women’s Road Race.

Born and raised in Adi Gudom, 30 kilometres from Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, Tsige developed her talents at performance-boosting altitude levels of 2250 metres. After establishing herself as a commanding figure on the local scene with the Mesfin Engineering Cycling Team, her international career took flight in 2024 when she was scouted for the UCI World Cycling Centre. Following a successful stint at the UCI WCC Satellite Training Camp in South Africa, she joined the WCC European team and was based in Brittany, France, for training and racing from April this year.

Before making the leap to Europe, the 18-year-old dominated the Tour Tigrai Women Stage Race, winning four of the five stages and the overall title. She then went on to claim the Ethiopian Junior Women’s Road Race Championship in June.

In the build-up to her breakout Worlds result, Tsige was the youngest rider in the 2025 edition of the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir Femmes. Despite being U19 in an U23 field, she went wheel to wheel with established WorldTeam riders, winning the Most Combative prize on Stage 3. After seven demanding stages, she finished 22nd on GC – an exceptional result given the context, and a clear sign she was a rider to watch, as witnessed by CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation Sports Director Gosia Jasinska.

Gosia explains:

“She is a very talented African rider. I saw her for the first time at Tour de l’Avenir, where she raced against U23 riders. I remember the second-last stage – she crashed and had to stop, and I was following the Polish national riders in the car. Tsige started behind their group, and on the long climb she caught and then dropped them. She was very impressive in the climbs. That was the moment I thought, ‘wow, she is a very good rider.’ I was very impressed with her.”

One month later, her outstanding potential was impossible to miss as she attacked the climbs and fought back from a mid-race crash to secure Ethiopia’s first-ever top 10 at a Road World Championships.

Gosia was also on the ground in Kigali, Rwanda:

“Then, I saw how she raced in the World Championships. She is not afraid to attack, to move and is a very aggressive type of rider.  She doesn’t brake or stay waiting for other attacks before she does hers. Seventh place in the World Championships shows that she has very big potential.

For sure she will be one of the strongest climbers in our team, but we must continue to slowly develop her as a rider. Helping her with her aspects like her skills on the bike, race tactics, living and racing more often in Europe and even her confidence with English. We will learn from each other, and she can be a key part of the team. I think it will be a very big point to work with the girls together. These are the first steps for us to develop and assess, especially when everyone meets in the first training camps.”

Tsige has also gained public recognition through a video posted during the 2025 Tour de France, when the WCC team spent a day at a stage. She was unexpectedly handed the winner’s flowers by her idol, Tadej Pogačar – her emotional reaction capturing hearts online. Naturally outgoing, Tsige later joined Pogačar for a pre-race ride ahead of Worlds and was at the finish to congratulate him when he claimed the Elite Men’s title.

For a team that has committed itself to providing opportunities for riders from the African continent since 2022, it is a great honour to welcome a rider like Tsige, who shows such promise, into our ranks from 2026 onwards.

CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto will reveal more of the 2026 Generation roster in the coming weeks.

Images: Team Africa Rising