Stage Three

Azzedine Lagab (ALG) 4h34'28''

Teshome Hagos (ERI) 4h34'28''

Jason Tesson (TEN) 4h34'47''

Emilien Jeanniere (TEN) 4h34'47''

Louis BLouwe (BWB) 4h34'47''

General classification

Jason Tesson (TEN) 12h30'49''

Geoffrey Soupe (TEN) 12h30'56''

Cyril Barthe (BBH) 12h31'06''

Emilien Jeanniere (TEN) 12h31'09''

Louis BLouwe (BWB) 12h31'09''

Algerian Azzedine Lagab finally won a stage at La Tropicale after eight participations without success.

The 37-year-old managed to surprise Eritrean Teshome Hagos in the sprint, even though he was known to be faster than him.

But on the banks of the Ogooué river in Lambaréné, the Algerian gave everything he had to get the victory that was missing in his palmarès.

Lagab is the first African rider to have won the most races on the continent but taking a stage away from success professionals has a great value for him and his long career.

The Algerian escaped during the last 50 kilometres together with Eritrean Teshome Hagos and Rwandan Patrick Byukusenge, but he didn't give up.

At the foot of the last climb with three kilometres to go, the peloton led by TotalEnergies and Bingoal-WB had come back to only thirty seconds and a bad day came for Patrick Byukusenge when he suffered an accident that prevented him from aiming for the victory.

Lagab and Hagos were alone in the final sprint, which the Algerian won after a series of attempts to drop the Eritrean on the descent of the final climb because he knew he was slower. But he managed to reverse the logic.

The overall classification remains unchanged, with Frenchman Jason Tesson keeping his yellow jersey as leader.

The Tropicale innovates once again by returning to the capital city from Kango, which usually launches the race towards the centre of the country.

Riders will bypass Libreville by the North to arrive at the Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, the scene of major Gabonese sporting events, with the national football team and the Libreville Marathon.