2020 Tour du Rwanda (2.1)

February 16-23

The 2020 edition of Tour du Rwanda will be held from February 16-23, 2020.

Aimable Bayingana, president of the Rwanda Cycling Federation (Ferwacy) revealed to Times Sport on Tuesday.

About the stage details and distance, he said: "At the moment we have only confirmed the dates. We are working around the clock to make sure the rest of details are ready to be announced next month.”

It will be the second edition under the UCI 2.1 category since its upgrade in February this year after ten years as a 2.2 race – since 2009.

This year’s event was held from February 24 to March 3, and was won by Astana Pro’s Eritrean Merhawi Kudus who was making his first Tour du Rwanda appearance since 2010.

Astana were the only UCI World Tour team in the eight-stage race.

The Ferwacy boss says more World Tour teams will be invited for the 2020 edition, as the cycling body seeks to cement Tour du Rwanda’s status as the biggest cycling event on the continent.

Kudus dethroned Rwanda’s Samuel Mugisha, the 2018 champion after completing the 959.1km race with the least time of 24 hours, 12 minutes and 37 seconds, beating runner-up Rein Taaramae by just ten seconds.

Joseph Areruya, the 2018 African Cyclist of the Year, who was featuring for French outfit Delko Marseille Provence, was the best-placed Rwandan in 9th position.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com