Reigning Tour du Rwanda champion Valens Ndayisenga will compete in this year’s Tour de l’Avenir from August 22-29 in France.

The 22-year old, who retained the men’s elite individual time trial title at the just concluded National Cycling Championships last weekend, is keen on making an impression at the annual competition that has been dubbed the ‘Mini Tour de France’, attracting U-23 riders from across the world.

"I am very excited about competing at this level. This is a dream come true and my objective is to be among the top 10 riders in the general classification,” said Ndayisenga in an exclusive interview with Times Sport.

Ndayisenga will be part of the International Cycling Union (UCI) team that has been training at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland where he has been training since April before returning to Rwanda a fortnight ago to compete in the National Cycling Championships.

The Rwamagana-born youngster revealed that he will be looking at posting impressive times.

He said, "Ultimately, I want to register good times because this will help me achieve my target of making it among the top 10 riders in the general classification. I also want to breakaway a lot. That is really something I am looking up to.”

Tour de l’Avenir was created in 1961 by Jacques Marchand, an editor at French newspaper L’Equipe and since 2007, has been dedicated to young riders between the age of 19 and 23.

It is part of the UCI Europe Tour (category 2.Ncup) and the U-23 Nations Cup and attracts teams from across the world with riders below the age of 23.

With inspiration from the Tour de France since 1996, the Tour de l’Alvenir is considered as a Tour de France for young riders with a one-week long race in the same locations as the Tour de France.

Just like the Tour de France, it features stages in the mountains, plains as well as a time-trial competition.

Former winners of the Tour de l’Avenir including Miguel Indurain, Greg LeMond, Laurent Fignon, Felice Gimondi and Joop Zoetemelk have won a total of 12 Tour de France titles.

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