Former Tour du Rwanda winner Merhawi Kudus will compete at the 2024 race event scheduled for February 18-25.

The Eritrean rider has not taken part in the annual cycling event since 2019 when he won it under the colors of Kazakhstan team Astana Pro. He will this time round return to defend his 2019 yellow Jersey riding for Eritrea national team.

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Kudus was the first yellow jersey winner of Tour du Rwanda since it was upgraded to 2.1 UCI category. He was at the time making his second appearance at Tour du Rwanda since 2012.

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The 29-year-old has already participated in six major Tours, some of them are Tour de France in 2015, Tour of Spain and the Tour of Italy.

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The Tour du Rwanda has been going from strength to strength in recent years and the 2024 edition promises to be even bigger and more competitive considering the riders and teams expected to grace the event.

Since 2019, no Rwandan has managed to win a stage while since 2012 up to since 2019 Rwanda has been winning a stage at least in every Tour du Rwanda.

The route of this 2024 edition will, as every year, consist of long climbs on most of the stages, with a 13-kilometer individual time trial on the heights of Musanze in the middle of the week for the first time.