Meet Alex Carera: The Cycling Super Agent Working With Africa's Top Riders

[Music] Thank you for visiting the Africa Rising Cyclone Podcast, where we share the big and most interesting cycling stories from across the continent of Africa, and from around the world where African cyclists are racing and riding. [Music] Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Africa Rising Cycling Podcast. There we are joined by none other than Alex Carrera, one of the key athlete managers in the world of cycling. Founder of the A&J All Sports Agency, looks after star riders like Tere Pogaccia and Benium Gemi. Welcome to the podcast Alex. Thank you so much for the invitation, nice to meet you and say hello to everybody. Thanks Alex. So you've been in cycling since the 1990s, and you're described in the media as a super agent. What first attracted you to work with pro cyclists? For the mola, I am honoured that some media call me super agent, because what means that we work well from the beginning of my career. I confirm you that I found my agency in 1997, and is more or less 30 years in this business. I'm not a poor rider before, but my father loves cycling, and I'm following Islam for this sport. You're something in common with Benium already? Yeah, yeah. With Benium, I started to work five years ago. It's the first athletes from Africa, and after there is another two athletes from Africa work with my agency. One is Enok Mulbueh, and the young talents, the first girl from Africa, Signe from Ethiopia after the World Champion in King Ali in 2024. Yes, a couple of incredible athletes. We'll talk about those a little later as well. We want to get a little bit more into you. If you look across all professional sports, many of the most successful athletes credit their agent with being a mentor, a guy, a friend, a show that they cry on sometimes, what do you think the key ingredients are for a healthy relationship between an agent or a manager and an athlete? Oh, it's a good question. I think that the key point about the relationship between an agent and athletes is working in the professional way and in the transparent way, because the athletes want to find an agent. The professional man can help to solve every problem. They need to believe in the relationship, and they need to think only about the performance and not other problems. Then in the end, the good agent is the guy's help to the athletes to solve the problem. Of course, the first and the main problem is the conference. After the primex sponsor, the insurance, the relation with the theme, the relation with the media, there is many, many things around our job. But the key point is that the athletes need to pass through the agent. Absolutely. It was fascinating last weekend. I saw Novak Djokovic in tennis. He lost to the final of the Australian Open, and the first person he talked about with his agent, Schultzsettik, was a career they had to go around. I was there, but of course, the relation between athletes and the agent is so close. Also, after the victory, today's the go, Beni texted me and he called me. Then he's super happy that he started the season with a new theme, first race, first victory. But also in the morning, before the race, he texted to me and today's before. Then the relation is absolutely close. Wonderful. I was going to mention that at the time we were recording this, Beni and we'll start today in the yellow jersey in Spain. How does that make you feel? It feels super good. He knew that he lost the jersey during the TT, but it doesn't matter. It's most important that the first opportunity to try to take a victory with a new theme, he takes. Then it's the most important. When you start well, everything after go well. And also, it made me believe in him, the sponsor, the management and so on. Then the most important that when the athletes is happy, the agent is happy and the team is happy. Then we are really satisfied about the choice of the team. It's not easy. After what happens last year in Intermarshi, but in the end, everything will be good. Absolutely. And so you mentioned you've known Beni for five years or so. What did you see in him when you first came across him? The first time that I see him is in La Guilla, in one race, 1.1 in Italy. And I remember that it was the first year. I think it's only the second-tour race in the pro category after Chicone that is arrived alone. Then I am surprised because he rode with a small team fans. I take some information with one of my riders in the same team and they put me in connection one month later in Coppe Barteli. We take a coffee together. I explain my project around him. It told me that he's alone without any agent and we start to work together. And after I had been I remember well in the World Champion in Belgium when he was under 23 because he has not any support from the stock including. I find one company in Italy can support the Retrea and he takes silver medal in the World Champion. Then he's also another step by step. I move from Delco to Intermarshe in World Tour and now from Intermarshe to NSN. Sometimes it's a great transition to see him and as you say NSN must be, I'm not, their social media is, has exploded in the last few days here. And also there is a huge aerotrain presence on social media so that team is about to get the full effect. I think he's very amazing. What do you think about Bini? Bini is one of the stars. Or cycling. For me is the black pearl. And in the end you already ride the story of cycling because the first ride from Africa take a medal in the World Champion is the first rider won the Belgium Classics. He's the first rider won stage in zero. He's the first rider won pre stage in one edition into the France and the first rider won the Park Jersey in the end of the tour. Then he already ride many many pages in the African cycling story but I'm sure that this story will ride another more solidly. And he's only 25 so there's lots more time for him. So let's go back in history a little bit. One minute past five on the first July 2024 in Torino. We've just seen Bini and Wind, Steve's three of the Tour de France, the first black African and in fact the first black man in history to do that. You try and share a little bit how you felt at that moment and also the enormity at that moment must have hit your professional brain at the same time as well. So how did that happen? For the ball I remember very well in the morning because this stage start in Piedcanza and the finals is in Torino and I was in the start close to his bus and I am the start with my daughter. My daughter is only 10 years old and we speak together, me and being in my daughter and being say Linda because it's the name of my daughter. Today if I won I'll give you a present and then she won the stage in the coming casual way and I'm super happy not only for him, for his team and for me but for all fans of Africa because this victory show that if you believe, if you have a talent but if you also work very hard you can take your dream. Yeah absolutely and I think there's an echo in there as well because I remember talking to Binium maybe two years ago when he said in 2015 when Daniel Tecloheim and not the King of the Mountain Jesy he was in a cinema in Asmara with his father and he was deciding to pick up either a football or a cyclist. Seeing Daniel said nope I'm going to be a cyclist. sometimes the story there is also the karma no then many people thinking that our history already written from the god i don't know if you will know but for sure the story is amazing that's incredible and then let's talk about Vinnie so um friend days after he won that stage um i was interviewing him on in the media zone in film of so a lot um when he just won his third stage um when he comes across very humble very genuine and i was told when he's on the podium um he set a prayer for desi et keidan to kestate she was the aeratron cycle is killed in in 2021 um and he said something along the lines of we did it um how would you describe his character oh um he's a really nice guy but for me the most important thing is that he's really human and after the life is changed in the last four years because of course he's one of the self-sacrifice and his allies grow a lot but he never changes mind is the same guy that i met the first time in copi barterly in 2021 and i forgot the exactly here what means that the suggests the life is changed but the interment is the same guy that i met in the first time and also his wife uh then um is really special guy perfect and i assume you've helped him a lot with that with that transition as well because you always hear about athletes in that well anyone that becomes famous you know it's a huge change in there in their lifestyle and their friend group and their family and i assume you've been a guide for him and yeah it's not change of course one is in Belgium in the Netherlands in France there is many many France around him then he needs also to be uh to put a small wall no to protect his privacy but in the end uh for me uh and for the guys live around him is totally the same guy than uh teniardte l'Ophe oh that's wonderful to hear i mean it's always amazing it uh it took a France to see the aeratrain fans at the bus there's always hundreds i was there a car of which stage it was and they brought speakers and music and food and they just had a party and the boss of the team came out and and said like been he left like two hours ago guys like doesn't matter we're just going to have a party at the intermarshe bus science in the end if you enjoy your lot your job book for sure you have a more opportunity to to take it as a lesson no my not only like cycling all thing the life also for you know you love uh uh your job and for sure you you have a lot of satisfaction when you speak with many people about uh africa about sports about uh many things no that's true thank you it's true and people like been he just they've said a new bar i mean i i looked at the data earlier and there are now 20 uh aeratrain athletes racing in 2026 and you know all of those or in spite i won't also add something about a noca a noca example is another characteristic is all the time have the big smile on the face when he go on the bike when he ride when he fight under and is his great point because uh also a noca yeah a noca is starting the small team uh after he come back to continental team i find another solution to come in bardiani and now in war two but all the time when he's there in the top team in the world when he won when he lose if fight with his mind and he or me with a lovely guy he's lovely guy yeah absolutely and also i know that the great talent every time he takes his opportunity in a san alavim the sport director alavim the coach alavim why because it's nice guys and enjoy when you ride on the bike yeah it's so true i talked to a henna quite regularly yeah it's there's a joy in in the sport with him which i i think will do him very well i'm maybe you agree i think 2026 is a year for henna like he he's been growing very well the last couple of years but i'm hoping this year is the year you know grand tour starts maybe yeah i think that the ain't noca already showed that uh out of europe it's it's a big a lot of results in africa in asia in umana in china and some sometimes also europe but this year is the right season to grow also take results in uh in europe race in any case it's confirmed in the last two years that there is in the top 100 rider in uciaranking and this is a great value and about sickle the super young talent from Ethiopia and now three years counter with canyon uh in devo and after his future is for war tour uh in it to to fall to listen the sport director and uh the other athletes in uh our team but i am sure that you have the great passion super big talent and if we'll continue to grow here by here one day we have also in warm and sacking a great star yes absolutely i wanted to talk about sega a little bit because we first came across her maybe a year and a half ago um when she was seven themes i have a year yeah yeah no actually before tour of tea grade um wow i think you'd want every race i think seventeen races at a row or something like this um in a friend of us in Ethiopia said we you know you need you need to take a look at this rider she was on the messvin engineering local team and the funny thing is the first thing we saw of her um and i'll tell you a story about this because it's it's quite a nice circle um is that she was obsessed and still is with tadeh pagatia yeah i know and we were sent we were sent i think it was fifteen photos but it was fifteen of her wins but it was fifteen pagatia celebrations she took off of him in every celebration i remember when the the president of uci david laparthe and the vice president amina introduced sega to today after one stage of tour the first i don't remember exactly which is the the stage but i cannot forget is is great for all parties and is the great opportunity for cycling to show that cycling is global here by here more and uh it's global because the the president the vice president and the board of uci work in this direction it's so important give uh with the school in eglue this opportunity to do this atlas and after in the world championing in galley all the teams all manager uh see with the on-ice the great balance of sega yeah absolutely i love the fact that pagatia threw his flowers to not knowing that she was in big it's bad it was a beautiful moment that there is the number one in many fits not only on the bike also out of the bike yeah exactly exactly the finally we try and help a lot of african athletes um in making themselves more appealing to agents and teams we we help them get their pro cycling stats buyers in good shape with their photos, driver, training peaks, social media things that is what are the three tips you would give inspiring young african and riders to attract an agent or a team? yeah first of all of course the brava the test is so important to value the engine of the athletes but the most important that when there is some race between european australian american athletes with the africa show uh the value and now the only key point that they need to improve some african riders is uh dry better on the peloton because when there are alone there is no dub because they have the great great talent the great potential but all around here Wanda is one important race now and other race around the world and of course if the opportunity to come in Europe after 18 years old it's so important because also union's category they can ride on the peloton in different way and the european staff can teach the african athletes to improve also when they ride on the bike in the peloton this is the key point but of course every every season we try to find a new athletes the new talents then now we have only three attencent from africa but i am sure that in the future i enjoy all sports and me and my taliskout can find the can help also other africa riders to arrive in the go-ta of cycling excellent we hope so too there there's actually we just announced last night there are 110 African men and women in world tour pro-ponti and conti teams for 2026 so we hope among that group there'll be some gems for you guys to to take a look at many thanks for your time Alex it's super helpful, we'll see you at the races. Enjoy and say hello to all African careriders and good luck for the career. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Africa Rising Cycling Podcast. Please do keep an eye on all our Africa Rising Cycling social media channels for more news and stories and we look forward to working you back for another episode very soon.