PHOTOS: FERWACY names riders for Tour du Rwanda 2017

2017 Tour du Rwanda stages November 12: Prologue: 3.3km November 13: Stage 1 Kigali-Huye 120.3km November 14: Stage 2 Nyanza- Rubavu 180km November 15: Stage 3 Rubavu-Musanze 95km November 16: Stage 4 Musanze-Nyamata 121km November 17: Stage 5 Nyamata-Rwamagana 93.1km November 18: Stage 6 Kayonza-Kigali 86.3km November 19: Stage 7 Kigali-Kigali 120km Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY) has released a list of 15 riders who will compete as the country flag bearers when the 9th edition of Tour du Rwanda gets underway from November 12-19. The cyclists were confirmed after last weekend’s races which were organised to prepare for the UCI-Africa Tour 2.2 road race. The races, from Nyanza-Rubavu and Rubavu-Musanze, were organised by FERWACY as a final warm-up aimed at giving the cyclists experience on the two routes that will be among seven stages of Tour du Rwanda. Gasore Hategeka ,Alexis Nizeyimana, Jean Ruberwa, and Bonaventure Uwizeyimana will lead Benediction club in Tour du Rwanda. Dimension Data Club rider Samuel Mugisha, 19, won the race from Nyanza District to Rubavu District after clocking 4h 40’ 58”’ in 180km while Benediction Club rider Patrick Byukusenge won the Rubavu-Musanze leg after clocking 2h37’95.’’ However, the 15 riders will be divided into three teams of five each: Team Rwanda (national team), Les Amis Sportifs, and Benediction. The country’s most exciting sporting event of the year will cover all the five regions of the country namely Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern provinces, and City of Kigali. Rwandan riders Didier Munyaneza and Rene Jean Paul Ukiniwabo will be among five cyclists who will ride for Team Rwanda. The Tour du Rwanda has a total of seven stages besides the opening prologue which will cover a total distance of 819 kilometres, almost the same distance as last year’s that covered 819.km. “The organisation and preparations for the race are fine, everything is in place and we hope to have a better event than previous years. We prepared riders and we are in the final stage of the preparations,” the president of Rwanda Cycling Federation, Aimable Bayingana, said. Rwandan cyclists Joseph Areruya and Samuel Mugisha will ride for Dimension Data In total, Rwanda will have eighteen riders, including Samuel Mugisha and Joseph Areruya, who will be riding for Dimension Data of South Africa, while Valens Ndayisenga will be with his new Austria UCI continental team of Tirol Cycling Team. This year’s budget will fall between Rwf400m and Rwf460m. Rwanda’s Valens Ndayisenga, currently with Austria’s Tirol Cycling Team, is the reigning champion, while Jean Bosco Nsengimana won the 2015 Tour du Rwanda edition. The four-time record stage winner of Tour du Rwanda is the only rider to have won the annual event twice (2014 and 2016) since it became part of UCI Africa Tour in 2009. Rwanda won the last three Tour du Rwanda editions. In 2014, Ndayisenga became the first Rwandan rider to win the Tour du Rwanda since its incorporation into the UCI Africa calendar in 2009. Les Amis Sportifs riders Rugamba, Samuel Hakiruwizeye and Ephrem Tuyishimire will lead the team during Tour du Rwanda 2017. Two-time Tour du Rwanda winner Valens Ndayisenga will be riding for Tirol Cycling Club. FINAL 15 Team Rwanda Jean Bosco Nsengimana Patrick Byukusenge Jean Claude Uwizeye Jean Paul Rene Ukiniwabo Didier Munyaneza Les Amis Sportifs (Rwamagana) Ephraim Tuyishimire Janvier Rugamba Jean Claude Mfitumukiza Samuel Hakiruwizeye Jimmy Uwingeneye Benediction Club (Rubavu) Gasore Hategeka Bonaventure Uwizeyimana Eric Nduwayo Alexis Nizeyimana Jean Ruberwa editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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PHOTOS: FERWACY names riders for Tour du Rwanda 2017