Fariba Hashimi, the winner of Sunday’s Afghanistan National Championships, will step up to the Women’s WorldTour level in 2023 and ride for the Israel-Premier Tech-Roland team.
19-year-old Fariba beat her older sister Yulduz in a sprinter at the end of the 57km race that was held near the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland.
50 riders took part, many after fleeing Afghanistan last year. They gathered for the historic championships from different countries across Europe, as well as in Singapore and Canada.
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Soon after pulling on the Afghanistan national champion’s jersey. Fariba Hashimi accepted the place in the Israel-Premier Tech-Roland team, which was known as Roland Cogeas Edelweiss in 2022.
Yulduz will ride for the new Israel-Premier Tech Roland Development team.
“I did not expect this in my wildest dreams. I will race for all Afghan women!” Fariba said.
“I can’t lie, it’s so exciting but it’s pressure, too. Honestly, I didn’t think I would get this opportunity to ride for a WorldTour team and a chance to race in the Tour de France.
“I will take the challenge head-on and race for all the women in Afghanistan. My country today is dangerous for many of the women living there. Women are not free to live and thrive as they wish, but if they see me riding in the Tour de France with the Afghan colours they will see that everything is possible.”
Sylvan Adams, the backer of the Israel-Premier Tech team was one of several people who helped a number of Afghan women escape when the Taliban returned to power for the first time in 20 years and brutally reversed any progress towards gender equality made in the previous two decades, including a ban on women doing sports.
Adams was in Switzerland for the Afghan national championships.
“We are making history here as these two brave women become the first from their country to reach this level of sport,” Adams said.
“It is part of our commitment to helping young cyclists from all over the world from developing nations to war zones. From our Racing for Change initiative in Rwanda to Afghanistan, we are more than a cycling team.”
Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi have been based in Italy since fleeing Afghanistan and have raced with Valcar-Travel & Service. Fariba rode the recent UCI Gravel World Championships.
“Both sisters raced for the Italian team Valcar and showed promise,” Ruben Contreras, the owner and manager of Israel-Premier Tech-Roland said.
“We expect them to progress a lot with us.”
