Wednesday

Men’s elite

1. Lahsaini Mouhssine (Morocco) 52:19:782. Grmay Tsgabu (Ethiopia) 52:29:373. Daniel Teklemainot (Eritrea) 52:33:84

Men’s U23 category

1. Valens Ndayisenga (Rwanda) 53:59:342. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eritrea) 54:05:853. Abderrahmane Bechlaghem (Algeria) 54:06:334. Joseph Areruya (Rwanda) 55:41:15

Valens Ndayisenga won a gold medal in the Men’s U23 Individual Time Trial (ITT) at the ongoing cycling Continental Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, yesterday.

The 21-year-old Ndayisenga clocked 53 minutes, 59 seconds and 43 microseconds to claim gold after overcoming stiff challenge from silver medalist Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (54:05:85) from Eritrea and Algeria’s Abderrahmane Bechlaghem (54:06:33), who settled for bronze.

In the elite Men’s ITT, which covered a total of 40.40km, Africa’s leading rider Lahsaini Mouhssine of Morocco won gold, followed by Ethiopia’s Grmay Tsgabu Gebremaryam while the 2010 Tour du Rwanda winner, Daniel Teklemainot (Eritrea) took the bronze medal.

Out of the 30 cyclists, Rwanda had two representatives in the race against the clock competition where Ndayisenga, finished fourth overall while compatriot Joseph Areruya finished in 9th place and fourth in the U23 category.

Ndayisenga, who recently joined South Africa-based Team Dimension Data, Africa’s only UCI professional African team, won silver in the same category at the 2014 edition.

Meanwhile, Rwanda’s leading female cyclist Jeanne d’Arc Girubuntu has her sights set on winning a second medal as she competes in the women’s elite road race this morning at the ongoing Continental Championship in Casablanca, Morocco.

The 20-year-old Girubuntu will be seeking for a second medal after earning the country a historic first medal in the annual continental championships in the female category on Tuesday.

The sensational rider clocked 46 minutes, 48 seconds and 22 microseconds to win silver in women’s Individual Times Trial (ITT). Namibia’s Adrian Vera (46:47:21) won gold while Samantha Sanders of South Africa (46:58:30) claimed bronze.

Speaking to Times Sport in a telephone interview from Casablanca on Wednesday, Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY) president Aimable Bayingana tipped Girubuntu to do well in the Road race, but admitted she will face stiff competition in the 120km long race.

"Girubuntu has the potential to pull off another stunning performance, she did the country proud on Tuesday and I believe she can do it again on Thursday.

"However, it is going to be tough for her as she is the only Rwandan in the race whereas other countries have more than one rider,” Bayingana said.

Girubuntu, who officially started her cycling career 18 months ago, made her breakthrough on international scene at the 2015 Continental Championships in South Africa.

Last September, she made history by becoming the first black African woman to compete in Individual Time Trial (ITT) at the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Also today, youngsters Fidel Ally Dukuzumuremyi and Rene Ukiniwabo make their debut on continental scene, competing in Men’s junior road race category. Both women’s elite and men’s junior category have a total of 120km.

At the week-long continental showpiece running from February 21 to 26 in Morocco’s capital, Rwanda is represented by a total of 11 riders, ten men and one female.

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