Stages

Stage one (Jan 31): Douala - Douala - 92km

Stage two (Feb 1): Idenao - Douala - 147km

Stage three (Feb 3): Yaoundé - Yaoundé - 101.8km

Stage four (Feb 4): Akono - Yaoundé - 80.5km

La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2018 champion Joseph Areruya will lead the U23 Team Rwanda Cycling at the upcoming UCI Tour de l’Espoir, scheduled for January 31 to February 4 in Cameroon.

Tour de l’Espoir is a new race on UCI Africa calendar and only attracts U23 national teams. This will be the maiden edition.

The six-man Team Rwanda, coached by Sterling Magnell, will depart on Monday, January 29.

Four of the riders are fresh from competing at the just-concluded 13th La Tropicale Amissa Bongo race in Gabon.

They include; Areruya, Didier Munyaneza, Jean Paul René Ukiniwabo and Jean Damascene Ruberwa. These will be joined by Samuel Hakurikirayezu and Samuel Mugisha.

The highly-rated UCI U23 competition will cover 417 kilometers and will attract 15 national teams, of which only Vietnam is the non-African team.

The other teams include; South Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia and hosts Cameroon.

Rwanda Cycling Federation president Aimable Bayingana has tipped the Rwandan riders to do well in Cameroon and is confident "they have the talent, ability and spirit to fight and win.”

"The primary target is to win the race, like we did at La Tropicale in Gabon and Tour du Rwanda last November. The boys have all it takes and we can expect a victory in Cameroon,” he said.

The best two riders at Tour de l’Espoir will book ticket to compete at the 2018 Tour de l’Avenir in France, a race regarded as the U23 version of the famous Tour de France.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw