Rest in Peace, Sule Kangangi

Photos by Lian van Leeuwen and Jacob Kopecky

The cycling world lost an inspiring figure and tireless advocate this weekend, when Sule Kangangi, 33, died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash while racing the 59-mile Vermont Overland gravel event on Saturday. We don’t have any additional details to share at this point, but we want to pass along our condolences to all of Sule’s friends and family and the many people whose lives he touched through his work to elevate cycling in East Africa and beyond.

We chatted with Sule following the 2021 and 2022 Migration Gravel races in Kenya, and he used both occasions to share his passion for growing the sport among locals in his home country and the broader region, rather than exporting the top riders to race abroad. He said he was just 17 when he first caught of a glimpse of bike racers, and he was hooked ever since. Sule raced professionally for Bike Aid from 2016 to 2019 before deciding to focus on developing the racing scene back home in hopes of inspiring his fellow Kenyans. “Bringing these races to rural areas might inspire young boys and girls to aspire a different kind of future,” he wrote in our 2021 interview.

There’s a memorial fund set up in his honor on GoFundMe, and all proceeds will go toward helping his family with the short and long-term costs of losing a husband and father. You can make a donation here.

Rest in peace, Sule. You will be missed by many.

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