Rwanda's 2023 mountain bike champions Jean-Éric Habimana and Djazilla Mwamikazi on Thursday morning left for South Africa to represent the country at the forthcoming 2023 Mountain Bike Cycling CAC African Championships slated for June 2-4 in Johannesburg,

The continental mountain bike race will serve as a qualification pathway to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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Star riders Habimana and Mwamikazi were in April crowned champions of the 2023 National Championship Mountain Bike XCO held at Fazenda Sengha, Nyamirambo, after emerging victorious in the race in men’s elite and women categories respectively.

Habimana, who rides for recently-established Java-Inovotec cycling team, won the Men Elite & U23 race beating the likes of Eric Muhoza and Theogene Nzamuye to the 2023 national Mountain Bike championship.

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Mwamikazi is also increasingly establishing herself as the queen of Mountain Bike after beating Martha Ntakirutimana, Violette Neza Irakoze to the finish line to win the 2023 edition of women’s mountain bike race.

The duo is bent on shining in South Africa so as to stand a chance to secure tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris in the summer of 2024.

The Championships will take place at Thaba Trails in Johannesburg and promises to be an exciting competition for both the riders and the spectators.