The Eritrean cycling team has dropped out of Tour du Rwanda 2022 as its members are not vaccinated against Covid-19.

This year's edition of the race is scheduled for February 20-27.

In an exclusive interview with Times Sport, Abdallah Murenzi, the President of the Rwanda Cycling Federation said that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has set guidelines which require everyone who participates in the race to have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

In addition, he noted that, in Rwanda, the national policy says that people attending events must meet Covid-19 safety guidelines.

"As usual, Eritrea had to send its professional riders to participate in the Tour du Rwanda. But this time around, they had engagements at club level, and therefore, the Eritrean officials decided to go for the local riders, only to find out that they were not vaccinated,” Murenzi explained.

"They emailed us and informed us that they would not participate. We are currently looking into whether another team can replace Eritrea. However, this will require a lot of effort because there are a lot of requirements,” he said.

Eritrea is one of the teams that have been performing well in Tour du Rwanda in the past, and they will be missed in the 2022 edition.

In 2010, Eritrea’s Daniel Teklehaimanot won the nine-stage tour of Rwanda in 29 hours, 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

In 2019, Merhawi Kudus made history he become the first man to win Tour du Rwanda under the UCI 2.1 category

In 2020, Natnael Tesfazion became the third Eritrean and second in a row to win the Tour du Rwanda.

Cycling is popular in Rwanda and the country was selected to host the 2025 Road World Championships, the first African nation to be awarded the event.

Teams that will participate in Tour du Rwanda 2022:

Israel Start-Up Nation (Israel),Total-Direct Energie (France), B&B Hotels (France), Team Novo Nordisk (USA), Androni-Giocatolli (Italy), Burgos-BH (Spain), Benediction Cycling Team (Rwanda), Pro Touch Team (South Africa), Bike Aid (Germany),TSG Terengganu (Malaysia), Team Coop (Norway), Wildlife Generation Pro (USA), Team SKS Sauerland NRW (Germany), Tarteletto-Isorex (Belgium)

National Teams: Rwanda, Algeria, Morocco, Great Britain

Rwanda will be represented by the national cycling team and Benediction Cycling team.

Stages

Stage 1: Kigali Arena-Kigali Arena (4 km ITT)

Stage 2: Kigali-Rwamagana (148 km)

Stage 3: Kigali-Rubavu (152 km)

Stage 4: Kigali-Gicumbi (124km)

Stage 5: Muhanga-Musanze (124km)

Stage 6: Musanze-Kigali Convention Center (152km)

Stage 7: Kigali-Mont Kigali (152km)

Stage 8: Kigali Canal Olympia-Kigali Canal Olympia (75km)