StagesStage one (Jan 31): Douala - Douala - 92kmStage two (Feb 1): Idenao - Douala - 147kmStage three (Feb 3): Yaoundé - Yaoundé - 101.8kmStage four (Feb 4): Akono - Yaoundé - 80.5km

Rwanda’s U23 national cycling team headed off to Cameroon Sunday, at exactly 9a.m, aboard a RwandAir flight, ahead of the Tour de l’Espoir, scheduled for January 31-February 4.

The inaugural Tour de l’Espoir is organised by Vivendi Sports under the auspices of Cameroon Cycling Federation and International Cycling Union. The event is one of the six competitions on the UCI calendar for the U23 Nations Cup in 2018.

Team Rwanda roster of six riders will be led by Joseph Areruya, who will be bidding for a third consecutive major victory after Tour du Rwanda 2017 and La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2018.

Areruya will be joined by his Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka teammate Samuel Mugisha as well as Didier Munyaneza, Jean Paul René Ukiniwabo, Jean Damascene Ruberwa and Samuel Hakurikirayezu.

The team will be coached by Sterling Magnell.

Obed Ruvogera is the team physiotherapist while Eric Maniriho is their mechanic.

The highly-rated four-stage race will cover a total 417 kilometers and will attract 15 national teams, with Vietnam the only 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.

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

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