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Algerian Youcef Reguigui is part of the peloton of the Tropical Amissa Bongo 2020. The one who spent five years at the highest level with the MTN-Qhubeka team, then Dimension Data, is the most important runner in the history of cycling Algerian.
From our special correspondent in Oyem,
The afternoon is coming to an end and Youcef Reguigui took advantage of this Sunday, on the eve of the big departure, to find some rest before attacking his third Tropical in a row on Monday, January 20. The next day, he will finish the first stage in 9th place in the streets of Ebolowa in Cameroon where the race made a foray.
"I have made a lot of sacrifices for years"
In 2020, the Algerian runner intends to win at least one stage, he who has often missed it. Smiling, the athlete of the former South African training Dimension Data enjoys his new life as a cyclist away from the pressure he experienced at the highest level, for five years.
“ I appreciate my new team (Teregganu cycling team in Malaysia) . I have made many sacrifices for years and I thank my wife and family for supporting me. I spent a lot of time alone in Europe, I did my best. Now I spend more time at home, ”he says simply.
Youcef Reguigui, 30, was until 2017 the spearhead of Algerian cycling. At home, we hoped to see him travel the roads of the Tour de France. He would have been a pioneer in this area. But Youcef Reguigui does not have any bitterness. “ It's the dream of every professional runner, but I haven't lived it. That's how it is, life, you can't always have what you want, ”said the winner of the road race at the African Games in Rabat in 2019.
Proud of his years at the highest level
Whoever should compete in the Tokyo Olympics in Japan next summer, as in 2016 in Rio in Brazil, lives his life as a cyclist with more distance, but still with as much motivation.
Youcef Reguigui doesn't know if one day he will return to a World Tour team (the 18 most important teams in the world, editor's note). But he is one of the rare African runners to have participated in the Tour of Spain, the Dauphiné Libéré, the Tour de Romandie, Paris-Nice or La Flèche Wallonne.
Reguigui remembers an anecdote that makes him proud. At the start of a stage in the Vuelta, the Spanish Alejandro Valverde, world road champion in 2018, told him that the Tour of Spain was " one of the most difficult events on the world calendar ". “ I felt a form of pride to be next to such a champion and who did not hesitate to value me. I was so happy to get to Madrid ”, admits the former winner of the Langakawi Tour in Malaysia. “ Having spent five seasons at the highest level remains a performance for me. It's an exceptional thing for an African runner. Without MTN-Qhubeka, few Africans would have had a chance, ”he said. Reguigui is one of those who have broken the glass ceiling in recent years.
“ Youcef Reguigui brought his experience to our Algerian selection , recounts his compatriot Azzedine Lagab. I have known him since his childhood and he has only progressed. When he was little, no one would have imagined that he could make a career. He largely deserved his place in the Tour de France. I find it stronger than before. "