The Tour du Rwanda saw its first big thrill today with the victory of Henok Mulueberhan, winner of the 2023 edition, who has come here this year to win the biggest cycling event on the African continent once again. He won on the wire ahead of Israel’s Rotem Tene, and the race commissaires had to use the photo finish to decide between them. The Eritrean had already won two stages in 2023, so he was back on top of the podium in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Rwanda also had a great day today with the great performance of Didier Munyaneza who escaped from the first kilometre of the stage that started in Rukomo and was finally caught by the peloton with 3 kilometres to go.
He was joined by another Rwandan, Mike Uwiduhaye from the national team, as well as South African Kieran Gordge and Greek Nikolaos Zegklis from the May Stars team. But it was Didier Munyaneza who still had the strength and courage to attack before the peloton joined up. He had wanted to be the first and last attacker of the day to honour the colours of his country. Frenchman Fabien Doubey of the TotalEnergies team took the yellow jersey, which Belgian Aldo Taillieu was unable to save in the final.
HENOK MULUEBERHAN: ” It was a very powerful sprint and we had to give everything to win. All the sprinters were on fire and wanted to win. There was a lot of elbowing to get into position. I’m very happy to be back on top here in Rwanda, where I have so many wonderful memories. There’s still a long way to go before the final finish next Sunday, with the big stages still to come.”
Tomorrow, the riders will arrive in Musanze, at the foot of the volcanoes and the gorilla park, where the Rwandan cycling training centre has been set up and where the sport has had a great history in the Land of a Thousand Hills.
THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS
- Red jersey – Stage’s winner sponsored byAMSTEL BEER : Henok Mulueberhan (National Team Eritrea)
- Yellow jersey – Leader of the General Classification sponsored by VISIT RWANDA : Fabien Doubey (France – TotalEnergies)
- Dark blue jersey –Best climber sponsored by FORZZA : Didier Munyaneza (National Team Rwanda)
- Blue and yellow jersey – Best young rider sponsored by PRIME INSURANCE: Pavel Sumpik (Czech Republic – Development Team Pucnic)
- Green jersey – Intermediate sprints sponsored by TOTAL ENERGIES : Didier Munyaneza (National Team Rwanda)
- Light green and white jersey– Best African rider sponsored by RWANDAIR : Henok Mulueberhan (National Team Eritrea)
- Yellow and dark blue jersey– Best young African rider sponsored by MOMO : Kieran Gordge (South Africa National Team)
- White jersey – Best Rwandan rider sponsored by CENTRIKA: Vainqueur Masengesho (Rwanda National Team)
- White and blue jersey– Best breakaway sponsored by INGUFU GIN : Didier Munyaneza (National Team Rwanda)
- Light blue jersey– Best Team sponsored by INYANGE : Israel-Premier Tech
