The U-23 cycling national team has been tasked to finish among the best two African teams in this year’s Francophone Games competition slated for September 8 in Nice, France.According to the Chairman of Rwanda Cycling Federation, Aimable Bayingana, the riders were challenged to make country proud at the competitions.Rwanda is making a debut in the competition.“There is no doubt our riders will be competing against the crème de la crème but we have total confidence in their ability to achieve the target. It will be a good opportunity for them to prove they are good enough to compete with the best at the world level,” he explained. He added, “I am confident that our riders can finish among the top two African teams; we know Canada, Belgium and France have some of the best young riders in the world and while we may not finish ahead of them we can still finish on a high.”The U-23 team left the country on Monday for the competition which will cover a total of 140 kilometers.The team compromises six riders namely; Valens Ndayisenga, Patrick Byukusenge, Emmanuel Rudahunga, Jean Bosco Nsengimana, Emille Bintunimana and South Africa-based Janvier Hadi, who will link up with his teammates from Nice.The team is under the guidance of US-born head trainer Jonathan Boyer and Jimmy Jean de la Croix. The team physiotherapist will be Obed Ruvogera.
