Selam Amha Gerefiel, a former footballer, made the switch to cycling in 2016 and quickly developed a strong passion for the sport. Remarkably, she won the Ethiopian National Championship that same year, and in 2025, she’s donning the vibrant Ethiopian colours once more, having claimed the title for the third time in 2024.

Building a cycling career in Ethiopia has been no easy feat for Selam. She reflects on the challenges, including the lack of support for female cyclists, funding difficulties and limited opportunities for international competition.

“I found many obstacles when starting, such as a need for more support for female cyclists whose role in Ethiopia is seen inside the home and not outside riding bikes, and the lack of cycling in my home town compared to football and running.”

Despite these hurdles, Selam’s resilience and determination have propelled her to significant accomplishments in addition to three Ethiopian road race titles, including two U23 ITT African Continental titles, an Elite ITT African Continental Championship, and attendance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In 2024, Selam joined CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation and has since extended her contract for 2025, opening a fresh chapter of chances where she “dreams of winning a race myself and seeing our team win a race next season.”

Reflecting on her time with the team so far, she says, “Being a part of CANYON//SRAM Generation has been very important for me to have the support to keep working on my professional career. It was a challenging season, but I still learned a lot, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to stay with the team in 2025 and continue working on my development.”

Make sure to look out for the Ethiopian flag floating proudly within the European peloton during 2025!