Cycling team depart for World Championships

The national cycling team (Team Rwanda Cycling) travelled to Norway on Thursday night ahead of the 2017 UCI Road World Championships scheduled for September 17-24 in Bergen. Rwanda will be represented by four riders in the Elite Men and U23 categories. The team is under the tutelage of head coach Sterling Magnell, while Sean Belfast is the mechanic and Obed Ruvogera the physiotherapist. Riders set to carry the countrys flag at the 10-day competitions include; two-time and reigning Tour du Rwanda champion Valens Ndayisenga, youngster Jean Paul Réne Ukiniwabo and South Africas Dimension Data Team duo of Joseph Areruya and Samuel Mugisha. Team captain Ndayisenga, Magnell as well as Belfast, left the country last night at 10:20pm aboard KLM. However, by press time, Ukiniwabo and Ruvogera were yet to get visas but will join the team later once they secure them. Based in Italy with Team Dimension Data, youngsters Mugisha and Areruya will join the rest of the team in Norway on September 19. Ndayisenga will compete in the 31km Elite Mens Individual Time Trial (ITT) on September 20. Areruya, Ukiniwabo and Mugisha will compete in U23 category Road Race covering a total distance of 191km before Ndayisenga returns to action on September 24 in the main race, the Elite Mens 267.5km Road Race. The annual UCI Road World Championships features three main categories namely; Individual Time Trial (ITT), Team Time Trial (TTT) and the Road races. The 2016 edition took place in Doha, Qatar while the 2018 Championships will be hosted in Innsbruck, Austria. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Cycling team depart for World Championships