Byukusenge confident ahead of Sunday’s Tour du Rwanda

Team Rwandan captain Nathan Byukusenge is a confident man ahead of the team’s participation in the Tour du Rwanda 2013 edition due on Sunday.Rwanda will field three teams, Akagera, Muhabura and Kalisimbi – each with five riders.Byukusenge, who will particularly ride for Team Kalisimbi, said that all riders are eagerly awaiting the tour after having a great time during preparations.“We are ready for the tour after several months of training. We made major improvements during our preparations and are looking forward to a successful tour,” he said. “This year’s edition will be special. We have three teams and all the riders are in good form and are confident to stage one of their best tour performances.” He added: “We promise strong performance compared to our last outing when we finished tenth. It will be hard but we have to win and hope that all our teams will go on the road with that in mind,” added Byukusenge.Rwanda’s top rider Adrien Niyonshuti will feature for his South African side Samsung MTN Qhubeka. Niyonshuti finished ninth in an 894.8km race during the 2012 edition which was won by Lill Daren from Team South Africa.In a related development, Tanzania has named a five-man team to represent the country in this year’s edition of Tour du Rwanda.The national team manager, Nicola Morganti, said on Tuesday that the riders were identified during the national cycling championships held two months ago in Dodoma.He said the Tour de Rwanda event will be useful for Tanzanian riders as they prepare for the next continental championships to be held in Egypt later this year.He also said that currently the five riders are undergoing intensive training at their respective clubs.Some of the riders that Morganti will count on are professional rider Laizer Richard (based in South Africa), national champion Hamisi Hussein Mkoma, and Gerald Konda.This is the second time Tanzania riders will be competing in Tour de Rwanda and Morganti said he is confident his team will perform well.Apart from Rwanda and Tanzania, other teams expected for the Tour du Rwanda 2013 include; UCI Continental Centre (South Africa), Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, Gabon, DR Congo, Team As Be Co of Eritrea, Novo Nordisk (USA), Team Avia Crabbe (Belgium) and Rhone Alpes (France).

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Byukusenge confident ahead of Sunday’s Tour du Rwanda