Top five in Africa

1. Eritrea 1645 pts2. Morocco 1042.5 pts3. South Africa 973 pts4. Rwanda 614 pts5. Ethiopia 393 pts

Rwanda has moved from the sixth to fourth place in the latest International Cycling Union ( UCI) Africa ranking.  It is a historic achievement for the national men’s cycling team (Team Rwanda) after many years of hard work.

Reacting to the news, the local cycling federation boss Aimable Bayingana said the improvement is a motivation to aim even higher.

"We are happy to be ranked fourth in Africa, the aim is to maintain it or push for better, not going backward. It’s a huge challenge; we must compete in as many international races as possible and keep winning. We will all work together to achieve that,” Bayingana told Times Sport.

Eritrea regained the top spot at the expense of Morocco while South Africa completes the  top three.

In club rankings, Germany’s Bike Aid tops the chart with 606 points, South Africa’s Dimension Data for Qhubeka is second with 366 points, VIB Bikes of Bahrain (211 points) are third while Torku Sekerspor of Turkey with 196 points completes the top four box.

In individual rankings, Valens Ndayisenga ranks 9th and is the only Rwandan rider in top 10 while Joseph Areruya is in the 11th position. Eritrean star rider Meron Abraham tops the table, Smit Willem Jakobus of South Africa is second while Ahmed Amine Galdoune of Morocco ranks third.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw