Team Rwanda’s Valentine Nzayisenga and Diane Ingabire were off to an impressive start at the 2023 Rwandan Epic as their incredible combination successfully earned them a Kigali-Kigali prologue triumph on Tuesday.

The five-stage mountain bike race started at Fazenda Sengha in Mount Kigali with huge attention from hundreds of cycling fans across Kigali before it shifts to different hilly destinations of high altitude nationwide.

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Team Nzayisenga and Ingabire claimed the 9km prologue in women duo, after clocking 51 minutes and 55 seconds.

Meanhwile, Dutch duo of Daniel Gathof and Bart Claassens won the prologue in men's duo category after clocking 27 minutes and 11 seconds while Germans William Rauw and Melanie Bourgeoi won the prologue in mixed duo category after hitting 41 minutes and 19 seconds.

In the individual player category, Olivier Mahieu claimed the prologue after clocking 29 minutes and 53 seconds, followed by vier Kestelyn who used 30 minutes and 59 seconds while Kollin Goetinck emerged third after clocking 34 minutes and 10 seconds.

Action resumes for stage 2 on Wednesday where riders depart Rusiga Resort heading to Musanze Stadium in a distance of 102Km, the longest to be covered in the race.

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More than 100 mountain bike riders from 20 nationalities are in Rwanda for the 2023 Rwandan Epic.

Participating cyclists are coming from various countries including Rwanda, Belgium, Check Republic, Germany, Spain, France, England, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, Holland, Sweden, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, USA and Zambia.