TIMU MOJA

Timu moja – Swahili for one team – represents the fundamental values of AMANI. It's not about any individual, but a unified group and their ambition for the sport. Every rider understands the goal is to push each other and take Team AMANI to the highest echelons of the sport.

“Wearing an AMANI jersey signals that you share our values and ethos of the Team. Timu moja.”

– Mikel Delagrange, Team AMANI co-founder

The Rapha-designed 2024 apparel is inspired by East African wildlife and the hand-painted matatus of Nairobi, the brightly coloured taxi-vans of Kenya’s bustling capital. These influences were in response to a direct request from the team. Using stencils and spray paint to create each animal pattern, these jerseys are designed to unleash the team’s racing instinct.

‘The kit brings out my spirit animal. I feel connected to the animal’s instinct, how it will set eyes on a target and focus until it wins.’

– Ndungu Kieya, Team AMANI rider

Our conversations with co-founder Mikel Delagrange and Team AMANI COO, Hanifa Said led us to explore a design route using hand-crafted stencils to give the prints their own distinctive characteristics. Each jersey pattern is an interpretation of five of the most iconic species in AMANI’s homeland including the leopard, giraffe and wild dog.

“Hanifa and Mikel [Team AMANI] said: we want animal prints. Normally animals use their skin to camouflage themselves. But we made sure these prints are seen out in the wild and are as visible as possible. We were also inspired by the Matatus of Nairobi – the taxi vans. The drivers customise them with bright colours. So we did the same, using stencils and spray paint.” 

– Santi Roig Dinarès, Rapha designer

Timu moja – one team – is also a very important ethos when it comes to the development projects Team AMANI have been building in Iten, Kenya. A location known as the ‘Home of Champions’ in endurance running, AMANI wishes to leverage the cycling talent in the region and nurture a new generation of world-class athletes on two wheels. They want to establish Iten as the Home of Cycling Champions too.

Team AMANI and the Black Mamba Development Squad have a belief and spirit that knows no bounds. Largely competing on the open frontier of gravel racing, they are inspiring a new generation of cyclists beyond the traditional borders of bike racing.  They’re expanding the possibilities of the sport and inviting the world to come and compete in their homeland. The Team’s own pinnacle event – the Migration Gravel Race, four days of racing on the Maasai Mara – is like nothing else. They also host the Safari Gravel Race, a one day event that is a UCI Gravel World Championships qualifier. Elsewhere AMANI have been riding waves at pinnacle races like Unbound, Traka and Cape Epic. 

People from East Africa know the impact that sport brings. But to build a legacy, it is not about the performance of individuals, it is about unity and collective strength. One team – timu moja. It is about teamwork, friendship and continuing to realise the vision of AMANI’s co-founder and team captain Sule Kangangi. The dream is real. Twende.

Rapha is proud to be an official partner of Team AMANI and Black Mamba Development Squad; the Migration Race and the Safari Gravel Series through 2024 and beyond. With stories still to tell, and special edition kit launching soon, sign up now to be the first to know.