Described as the new king of mountain climbing and tipped to be the future of Rwanda’s cycling, Samuel Mugisha has come out early to reveal that he has set his sights on winning 2017 Tour du Rwanda following his impressive debut at the just-concluded 2016 edition.

The 18-year old cyclist, who rides for Club Benediction de Rubavu, was among the six cyclists that made their first appearance in the annual category 2.2 UCI Africa Tour road race that covered a total distance of 819.1 kilometres.

However, he surprised many when he emerged the best climber at the end of the eight-day competition.

The Musanze-born youngster beat his closest rival, Hailay Kibrom Giday from Ethiopia, by 60 points, while his Benediction Club teammate and captain Patrick Byukusenge was the second runner-up having collected 20 points.

Speaking to Times Sport in a recent interview, Mugisha expressed his excitement on his excellent debut and attributed his success to self-confidence and determination.

He revealed that it gave him a motivation of believing that he can win the competition next year.

"I couldn’t believe I have done it (winning the best climber’s award) because, before the competition, I never imagined myself coming closer to that; however, when the competition began, I felt some confidence and started to give myself a chance,” said Mugisha.

The starlet rider began to show off what he can do during stage 2 (Kigali-Karongi) winning all the six climbs that dotted the 124.7km distance before again winning the six climbs of stage 3 (Karongi-Rusizi; 115.9km).

He also won six others during stage 4 (Rusizi-Huye – 140.7km), a stage which he actually came close to winning.

"It made me believe that I am actually able to compete against experienced riders and I want to believe that, come the next edition, I might be in position to win the competition,” he said.

The five other debutants included Eric Nduwayo (Team Rwanda), Jean Ruberwa, Alex Nizeyimana (Club Benediction), as well as Mathieu Twizerane and Samuel Hakiruwizeye, both of Les Amis Sportif de Rwamagana.

Mugisha’s coach, Felix Sempoma, said: "I am very proud of him, he is just 18 and this is his first Tour du Rwanda, one of the most difficult races on the continent with a lot of mountainous routes.

But after this race, there is no doubt that he is our new king of mountain climbing.”

On the general classification, Mugisha finished in the 25th position clocking 21hours 40 minutes 35 seconds, a gap of 25 minutes and 14 seconds behind the race winner Ndayisenga. Mugisha was also 21st on the list of best African riders and 9th best young rider.

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