UNDER-23 Rwanda cycling national team (Team Rwanda U23) has set its sights on this year’s world championships scheduled for September 21-29 in Ponferrada, Spain.

Rwanda is in third position on the continent, behind Eritrea and Algeria. Africa will be represented by five countries, with Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Morocco fighting for the fourth and fifth slots. 

Rwanda needs to do well in the remaining three Algerian international cycling races to qualify for the biggest cycling event for the first time ever.

Team Rwanda skipped Saturday’s Criterium International de Setif as the technical staff wanted the riders to rest before embarking on the next race of the Tour International de Constantine, which got underway yesterday and will run through Thursday.

The last two races, Circuit International d’Alger and Critérium International de Blida, will be held on March 28th and 29th, respectively.

Last week, Team Rwanda rider Valens Ndayisenga was named the best climber in Stage 2 of the Tour International de Setif in Algeria. The 19-year-old came in third position out of 72 riders.

Three days earlier, his teammate Jean Bosco Nsengiyumva had been named the best climber in Stage 3 of the Tour International de Blida.