Top Kenyan cyclist has leg amputated after Tour of Rwanda crash

One of Kenya’s leading cyclists has had his lower left leg amputated following complications after he broke his femur in a crash at the Tour of Rwanda earlier this month.

Samwel Mwangi, aged 32, crashed on the seventh and final stage of what is one of Africa’s leading stage races, which he was riding with Africa’s only UCI Continental team, Kenyan Riders Downunder - which has Australian management, hence the name.

News of the his condition was announced in a post on the team’s Facebook page.

In 2013, Chris Froome visited the team at its base in Kenya’s Rift Valley, where he himself began his sporting journey that would make him one of cycling’s biggest stars.

The Team Sky rider, fresh from his first Tour de France victory, spent most time during his visit with Kenyan Riders’ biggest prospect, John Njoroge, according to a report in the Independent.

A little more than a year later, Njoroge would be killed in a head-on crash while leading the Tour of Matabungkay in the Philippines involving a motorist who had ignored instructions to stop.  

Froome subsequently encouraged his followers on Twitter to contribute to a fund set up to provide for Njoroge’s widow and children.