Tour of Cameroon: German wins Stage Two as Team Rwanda riders slip

German national, Holler Nikodemus riding for his home club Bike Aid claimed the second stage of the ongoing 14th edition of Tour of Cameroon as Team Rwanda riders faltered in their hunt for the yellow jersey on Sunday.

Monday, March 13, 2017
Team Rwanda's riders pose for a photo ahead of today's stage three Mbanga - Limbe (101 km). / Courtesy

MondayStage 3: Mbanga - Limbé (101 km) 12pmTop Ten

1. Holler Nikodemus Bike Aid (Germany) 02h24'09'2. Van Engelen Adne Global Cycling Team (Netherlands) 02h24'09'3. Teshome Hagos Meron Bike Aid (Germany) 02h25'06'4. Mraouni Salaheddine Morocco 02h25'06'5. Kangangi Suleiman Bike Aid (Germany) 02h25'06'6. Tybor Patrik Dukla Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) 02h25'06'7. Jelloul Adil Morocco 02h25'12'8. Saber Lahcen Morocco 02h25'12'9. Valens Ndayisenga Rwanda 02h25'12”10. Jean-Claude Uwizeye Rwanda 02h25'25'

Other Rwandan riders11. Jean-Paul René Ukiniwabo 02h26'17'12. Bonaventure Uwizeyimana 02h26'17'21. Jean-Bosco Nsengimana 02h27'56'30. Ephrem Tuyishimire 02h32'21' General Classification Top Ten1. Van Engelen Adne Global Cycling Team (Netherlands) 05h17'37'2. Holler Nikodemus Bike Aid (Germany) 05h17'44'3. Tybor Patrik Dukla Banska Bystrica (Slovakia) 05h18'33'4. Teshome Hagos Meron Bike Aid (Germany) 05h18'41'5. Mraouni Salaheddine Morocco 05h18'49'6. Jelloul Adil Morocco 05h18'55'7. Valens Ndayisenga Rwanda 05h18'57'8. Saber Lahcen Morocco 05h18'57'9. Kangangi Suleiman Bike Aid (Germany) 05h18'58'10. Jean-Claude Uwizeye Rwanda 05h19'10'

Other Rwandan riders11. Jean-Paul René Ukiniwabo 05h20'00'12. Bonaventure Uwizeyimana 05h20'02'23. Jean-Bosco Nsengimana 05h22'28'30. Tuyishimire Ephrem 05h26'06' German national, Holler Nikodemus riding for his home club Bike Aid claimed the second stage of the ongoing 14th edition of Tour of Cameroon as Team Rwanda riders faltered in their hunt for the yellow jersey on Sunday. Covering a distance of 101-kilometres from Bafoussam heading to Dschang and later coming back to Bafoussam, 25-year old Nikodemus put on an excellent performance to claim this stage after clocking a total 2 hours, 24 minutes and nine seconds riding at an average speed of 42.04km/h. The Bike Aid rider reached the finish line in a sprint with Netherland’s Global Cycling Team rider who also posted the same time with the duo comfortably beating four riders by 57 seconds who crossed the finish line in the second sprint. The four riders included third Teshome Hagos Meron (Bike Aid), fourth Mraouni Salaheddine from Morocco, fifth Kangangi Suleiman also from Bike Aid and sixth Tybor Patrik from Dukla Banska Bystrica of Slovakia. They all posted a total time of 2 hours 25 minutes and six seconds. Meanwhile it wasn’t a pretty good performance from the six Team Rwanda riders who are gunning for the yellow jersey in this competition, despite having two riders in the top ten. Two -time and reigning Tour du Rwanda champion Valens Ndayisenga improved from the 13th place in stage one and finished ninth using 2 hours 25 minutes and 12 seconds while his compatriot Jean-Claude Uwizeye again maintained his 10th place posting 02h25'25'. Jean-Paul René Ukiniwabo (11th) posted 02h26'17' same time as his compatriot Bonaventure Uwizeyimana who finished in the 12th place while 2015 Tour du Rwanda Champion Jean-Bosco Nsengimana finished in the 21st place using 02h27'56'. Ephrem Tuyishime was Team Rwanda’s low performer finishing in the 30th place clocking 02h32'21'. It wasn’t a good performance from Team Rwanda riders who had finished the first stage just seven seconds behind the leader but now the gap has been stretched to one minute and twenty seconds considering Rwanda’s best ranked rider so far. Van Engelen Adne of Global Cycling Team of Netherlands now leads the general classification and will be wearing the yellow jersey today having used so far 5 hours 17 minutes and 37 seconds closely followed by Holler Nikodemus with 05h17'44'. Ndayisenga is Team Rwanda’s best ranked rider at seventh place with 05h18'57' while Uwizeye is the 10th place with 05h19'10'. Today, the race will tee-off from Mbanga heading to Limbé a, 101 km with riders scheduled to peddle off at noon Kigali time.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw