[VIDEO]: Team Rwanda begin medal hunt at African championships

Tuesday Elite Women TTT 9a.mElite Men & U23 TTT 12p.m Jean Bosco Nsengimana The 2017 African Continental Championships got underway Monday in Luxor, Egypt where Rwanda is being represented by seven riders (six men and one woman), who will compete in different categories. The week-long event started with the junior Men and Women Team Time Trial yesterday, but the main race begins today with the Elite Women and Men, and U23 Team Time Trial (TTT) scheduled for 9a.m and 12p.m, respectively. Team Rwanda will field four riders for the Elite Men & U23 TTT –including two-time Tour du Rwanda winner Valens Ndayisenga (2014 and 2016), 2015 champion Bosco Nsengimana and South Africa’s Dimension Data for Qhubeka duo of Samuel Mugisha and Joseph Areruya. The quartet will be seeking to win Rwanda’s first team medal at the annual continental showpiece that, over the years, has been dominated by Algerians, Eritreans and Moroccans. Speaking to Times Sport by phone from Luxor, Ndayisenga, the U23 Individual Time Trial defending champion, said the team is ready and looking forward to Tuesday’s race with optimism. Joseph Areruya “We reached here safely and have been training well,” he said, adding that, “We’re here on a mission to win medals, especially in tomorrow (today). We want to win our first team medal.” The 57.8 kilometre race will go around the City of Luxor with the distance expected to be covered at a minimum speed of 28km/h, which would last approximately 2h:03’51” and a maximum speed of 48km/h where it could be covered in 1h:12’:15”. Eritrea are the Team Time Trial defending champions, while Algeria won the silver and Morocco bronze at last year’s edition in Casablanca, Morocco. Rwanda finished in fifth, while Ethiopia came in fourth place. Samuel Mugisha editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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[VIDEO]: Team Rwanda begin medal hunt at African championships