South African continental team ProTouch prepared for one of the biggest days of racing of their season at the Maryland Cycling Classic.
Alongside the likes of Michael Matthews, Dylan Groenewegen, Giacomo Nizzolo and Magnus Cort, ProTouch posted an illustration on their Instagram showing the six riders who would represent them on the east coast of the United States against a backdrop of an American flag.
They proceeded to post individual photos of just five of the riders to add excitement, followed by a group photo of the same five riders 10 minutes before the Baltimore County start. However, one rider was missing.
Their 24-year-old Rwandan rider Samuel Mugisha, the overall winner of the 2018 Tour du Rwanda, boarded his flight and arrived in America as scheduled on Wednesday, August 31, the team has confirmed.
But instead of heading to the arranged transfer with his squad as planned, he made his own arrangements to be met at the airport.
Mugisha never arrived at the team’s home or the race he was supposed to be competing in, which was won by Israel – Premier-Tech’s Sep Vanmarcke. ProTouch and the organizers of the Maryland Classic have reported Mugisha to authorities as a missing person.
CyclingTips understand Mugisha’s safety is high after security footage showed the rider was met at the airport by people he knew. African athletes often struggle to apply for visas to compete internationally, which is already a difficult process, and Mugisha’s disappearance is unlikely to improve the situation.
Missing athletes from international competitions is not an uncommon phenomenon. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast, 13 athletes from Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda and Sierra Leone disappeared, while more than 40 at the 2006 Melbourne Games disappeared, overstayed or sought asylum. At the London 2012 Olympics, 21 athletes and coaches went missing and some have still not been found.
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