Frenchman Pierre Latour, leader of the TotalEnergies team, won today’s 5th stage ahead of Belgian William Lecerf of the Soudal-Quickstep team, who at the same time took the yellow leader’s jersey from team-mate Pepijn Reinderink.
Pierre Latour led the classifications from start to finish, and by the halfway stage, he already had a comfortable lead which enabled him to manage his efforts in the 2nd part of the course until the finish at Kinigi Kwita Izina.
After innovating on the first day with a team time trial, the organisers added another novel touch to the event with a 13-kilometre individual time trial with a gradient of almost 500 metres.
Two-time French time trial champion Pierre Latour proved just how much he excels in this particular discipline, finishing 33 seconds ahead of Belgian William Lecerf: “I came here for a training session in January and I knew the course well,” he declared after the finish. It’s great to win here at the Tour du Rwanda, where I’ve never been before.
The riders will have to tackle four climbs tomorrow, including the famous Mur de Kigali and the finish on Mount Kigali.
Panorama
