Badreddin Wais, a Syrian living in Switzerland, is a member of Team Tempo-Sport bikespeed.ch. On September 20, he will compete in the race of his life. Thanks to the support of various sponsors, the cyclist will be competing in the individual time trial at the World Cycling Championships in Bergen, Norway. He will be up against Stefan Küng, Tony Martin, and others. His goals are clear: to make the most of this amazing experience and give it his all.
The friendly young man on his high-tech bike is beaming as brightly as the sun. Fresh from a grueling training session on his time trial bike, the Syrian is bursting with energy. His German is excellent, and his enthusiasm is palpable. No wonder: for Badreddin Wais, every racer’s dream is coming true. On September 20, he will compete in the individual time trial at the World Championships in Bergen, Norway, standing on the starting line alongside elite riders with big names like Tony Martin and Stefan Küng. He received the invitation at the very last minute, just at the end of August. Yet for the 26-year-old competitive athlete, this is anything but a given. He fled his hometown of Aleppo for Switzerland about three years ago. In Syria, he was a member of the national cycling team and one of the most promising young talents. Until the civil war changed everything for the sports student. Wais is a recognized refugee and now lives in Pfäffikon (SZ). He is doing everything he can to continue his education here.
An incredible wave of solidarity
But sports always helped him get through those difficult times. So, once he was back in Switzerland, he soon started getting back on his racing bike as often as possible. He was even able to compete in races again. Various clubs and teams supported him from the very beginning. This spring, we at Tempo-Sport launched a fundraising campaign, enabling him to compete in various bike races with competitive equipment and now also to make the trip to Norway. Thanks to many individuals—especially from the Tempo-Sport bikespeed.ch team—and several equipment sponsors such as CUAG (Argon 18, etc.) or Velok (Profile Design, etc.), we were able to secure Badreddin’s entire season within just a few days. We were overwhelmed by this tremendous show of solidarity.
Good athletic results soon followed again this year. This did not go unnoticed by the Syrian Cycling Federation. The national coach therefore nominated the refugee—who is free of any political ideology—for the World Championships in Bergen. For Wais, too, the sport comes first. “I’m competing for Syria, but I’m doing it purely for athletic reasons,” the Syrian clarifies. “For me, this is a unique sporting opportunity that I definitely want to take advantage of.” The time trial specialist has already gained international experience. In 2009, he competed in a World Championship, also in the time trial. At that time, he was still a junior. And it was also in 2009 that he won the bronze medal at the Arab Championships in Qatar.
Ready for a wet race, too
When asked what his goals are in Norway, Wais says: “Of course, I’ll give it my all. Above all, I’m looking forward to the experience of competing against the biggest names. I don’t have a realistic chance of a top finish, but I want to put up as good a fight as possible.” And to that end, he’s giving it his all in training, too. The course in Bergen is demanding. The 34-kilometer time trial route ends, after a flat city circuit, with a three-kilometer final climb featuring a 10% gradient. It’s a very difficult task, as it requires switching as quickly as possible from an uncompromising aero position to mountain time trial mode—on a disc-wheeled time trial bike, mind you. Wais tries to simulate this as closely as possible in training. He now knows the roads in the Linth Valley by heart from his countless time trial training sessions. He’s also getting his race-hardening in on Tuesday evenings at the races on the open velodrome in Oerlikon, where he can compete against the best in the field. In addition, he regularly does tough interval training with the cycling team from Tempo-Sport bikespeed.ch. Another aspect is also important to him. “Bergen is one of the rainiest cities in Europe. That’s why I deliberately train on my time trial bike in the rain time and again to refine my cornering technique and be prepared for all conditions.”
He says this and disappears on his time trial bike to his training grounds between Schmerikon and Ziegelbrücke. On this day, under bright sunshine.
