Colombian Valencia Jhonatan Restrepo has claimed his second victory at the ongoing Tour du Rwanda 2020 after outclassing a host of rivals in a sprint photo finish of the fifth stage on Thursday.

Restrepo, also winner of the third stage, beat to the line Frenchman Romain Cardis and Eritrean Natnael Tesfazion, who took second and third spots, respectively, at the end of a 84.6km ride from Rubavu, Western Province, to Musanze in Northern Province.

The trio, along with 11 more riders who comprised the bunch, all used a shared time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 19 seconds.

There was no Rwandan in the group with Moise Mugisha coming in 16th place, four seconds behind, a time that was also used by Skol Adrien Cycling Academy teammate Seth Hakizimana in 19th position.

Former winners of the annual race; Joseph Areruya, Jean Bosco Nsengimana and Samuel Mugisha all struggled in the shortest stage of this year’s edition as they finished in disappointing 27th, 52nd and 55th place, respectively.

Rwandan Patrick Byukusenge, who was caught by the chasing group in the final 5 kilometres after leading the stage alone for nearly 50 kilometres, was named as the most combative rider, with the best climber and best sprinter jerseys going to Carlos Oyarzun (Bai Sicasal) and Dawit Yemane (Eritrea), respectively.

With three stages to race, and five down, Tesfazion holds a healthy 2 minutes and 11 seconds lead ahead of second-placed Moise Mugisha. South African Kent Main completes the podium with 71 seconds further behind.

Friday’s Stage 6 will be 126.7km-long from Musanze to Muhanga, in Southern Province.

Stage 5 classification. Moise Mugisha was the best Rwandan in 16th position.

General Classification after five stages. Two Rwandans still inside the top 5.

This is how close the sprint photo finish was at the end of the 84.6km Stage 5.