Ese Lovina Ukperesaye is the current Nigerian National Road Champion and the African Continental Road Champion. She was ready to turn away from cycling after tiring of training with minimal opportunities to race. The 24-year-old is thrilled to sign with her dream team and looks forward to preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she has already been selected to represent Nigeria in the road race. 

“I was introduced to cycling in my village by a man named David, and that’s when my journey began. I initially found it such a difficult sport, but after discovering there were other female cyclists, I became more interested.

I tried athletics, as they have many more sponsors in Nigeria than other sports, but ultimately, I chose cycling due to my love for the sport.

I travelled to Switzerland in 2016 and saw not only men competing in cycling but women doing it well. That was a motivation booster for me, and it’s when I decided to make cycling my career choice. Back home, cycling is not popular, and there are no sponsorships even if many young people are interested, so I had to take matters into my own hands. 

As a rider, I love setting goals and reaching them. I see challenges as a stepping stone to growing into a better person. Discipline is my favourite aspect of the sport, and I enjoy sacrificing some things to achieve my goals. I love road racing and the team pursuit on the track with the Nigerian national team. 

Signing with CANYON//SRAM Generation is my biggest cycling achievement and one I have always dreamed of. I said that if I returned from the Paris Olympics and hadn’t signed with a team, I would stop cycling. I’m tired of training without any opportunity to do races. Now, I will have a whole season of racing. Being part of this team is a great privilege, and I will never take it for granted. I plan to do my best to perform well and be happy and grateful to be part of a team I always loved. I aim to win any of our team races and make myself and the team proud of our efforts.”