2011 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo

Stage 1- Oyem to Bitam-105km

Day 1 results

1 Geoffrey Soupe     (Fra)   2:29:11  
2 Anthony Charteau (Fra)   2:29:11  
3 Andy Cappelle      (Bel)   2:29:13
16. Gasore Hategeka        (Rwa) 2:30:54
31. Abraham Ruhumuriza  (Rwa)   2:33.42
35.Adrien Niyonshuti         (Rwa)   2:33:42
37.Obed Ruvogera             (Rwa)  2:33:42
46.Nathan Byukusenge      (Rwa)  2:33:42
53 Emmanuel Rudahunga  (Rwa)  2:33:42
71.Innocent Uwamungu     (Rwa)  2:33:70

RWANDA’s national cycling team-Team Rwanda got a rough welcome to this year’s Tropicale Amissa Bongo race which rolled off on Tuesday in Gabon.

Gasore Hategeka emerged as Rwanda’s best rider in the opening 105km stage after using 2 hours, 30 minutes and 54 seconds to finish 16th.

Other riders in the top 50 included four-time Tour of Rwanda champion Abraham Ruhumuriza (31st), Obed Ruvogera (37th) and Nathan Byukusenge (46th).
By his standards, Adrien Niyonshuti, who is riding for South Africa’s cycling team-MTN Energade, also had a disappointing start after finishing a distant 35th.

The inexperienced pair of Emmanuel Rudahunga and Innocent Uwamungu was further back in 53rd and 71st positions respectively.

France dominated the stage after posting a one-two finish.
The country’s U-23 champion Geoffrey Soupe beat his compatriot Anthony Charteau by one micro-second after both riders had posted 2 hours, 29 minutes and 11 seconds.

Belgian Andy Cappelle (Quick Step) was third, two seconds off the pace. In the teams’ ranking, Team Rwanda finished 4th behind France, Eritrea and Morocco.

Yesterday, riders were expected to race from Bitam to Ebolowa (Cameroon) covering 147km.

Ends