Eliud Kipchoge launches cycling academy

The GOAT of marathoning has taken on a new project: a cycling academy. The two-time Olympic marathon champion and world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge announced on Instagram last week that, together with his partners INEOS and Global Sports Communication, the NN Running training centre will now also host a cycling school. “I’m proud that we are expanding our Kaptagat-based training camp from a purely athletics focussed training camp toward a wider kind of sports academy. The INEOS Eliud Kipchoge Cycling Academy is a very natural fit, with great potential to enable our young talented cyclists to make the next steps toward the top level of cycling,” Kipchoge shared.

We’ve got new neighbours… ?

Together with the @INEOSGrenadiers we have launched the INEOS Eliud Kipchoge Cycling Academy. The ambition of this project is to utilise our combined knowledge, to create a world-class, sustainable cycling academy in Kaptagat, Kenya. pic.twitter.com/l1AWvHgMoJ

— NN Running Team (@NNRunningTeam) June 22, 2022

The cycling academy will employ some of the staff already on Kipchoge’s team and will be run by Kipchoge’s long-time partner Valentijn Truow, as reported by Cycling News.

Trouw, a Dutch citizen, has over three decades of experience working with long-distance runners in Kenya and a background in athlete management. Trouw said that he was excited to build what is a fairly undeveloped sport in Kenya, “in good harmony and collaboration with the Kenyan Cycling Federation, bringing together our collective knowledge and insights from running and cycling for the benefit of the sport.” Kenya had no full-time cycling professionals in 2022.

“We work with the great potential of east African long-distance runners for over 30 years, and I believe the exceptional local endurance talent combined with the great training environment at Kaptagat will be perfect for developing quality cyclists,” Truow added. “Working together with Sir Dave Brailsford, the INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team and tapping into the broader INEOS sporting family will bring us the world’s best practice in competitive cycling.”

The INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team is world-renowned, and it will be interesting to watch Kipchoge’s cycling academy grow through this high-level partnership. “This is a significant and exciting development in world cycling–it has the power to drive lasting change by developing new riders from Africa,” said Grenadiers manager Dave Brailsford.