Bonavanture Uwizeyimana gave the Rubavu-based Benediction Club their first stage win of Tour du Rwanda 2017 when the 24-year old claimed stage five that started from Nyamata and concluded in Rwamagana, covering a distance of 93,1km in 2 hour, 16 minutes and 28 seconds.
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Stage 6: Kayonza-Kigali 86.3km+ 4 categorized climbs (including the infamous "Mur de Kigali”)
Stage five 1. Bonavanture Uwizeyimana (Benediction Club) 2h16’28’’2. Hamza Yassin (Algeria) 2h16’30’’3. Edwin Avilla Venegas (Team Illuminate) 2h16’30’’4. Aron Debretsion (Eritrea) 2h16’30’’5. Joseph Areruya (Dimension Data) 2h16’30’’General Classification1. Joseph Areruya (Dimension Data) 15h24’11’’2. Eyob Metkel (Dimension Data) 15h24’49’’3. Suleiman Kangangi (Bike Aid) 15h25’27’’4. Simon Pellaud (Team Illuminate) 15h25’44’’5. Jean Bosco Nsengimana (Benediction Club) 15h26’11’’6. Patrick Byukusenge (Benediction Club) 15h26’55’’7. Valens Ndayisenga (Tirol Cycling Team) 15h27’05’
Bonavanture Uwizeyimana gave the Rubavu-based Benediction Club their first stage win of Tour du Rwanda 2017 when the 24-year old claimed stage five that started from Nyamata and concluded in Rwamagana, covering a distance of 93,1km in 2 hour, 16 minutes and 28 seconds.
Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s Rwandan rider, Joseph Areruya keeps the yellow jersey after finishing sixth in 2h16’30’’, less than half a second behind his compatriot.
Hamza Yassin of Algerian National Team came in second place, Edwin Avilla Venegas (Team Illuminate) and Aron Debretsion (Eritrea) took third and fourth places, respectively while Team Rwanda’s Jean Paul Rene Ukiniwabo completed the top five, all using the same time as Areruya.
In the General Classification, Areruya still holds a 38 seconds advantage over his Dimension Data teammate, Eyob Mektel.
The 21-year old Areruya tops the standings having used 15 hours, 24 minutes and 11 seconds, while Suleiman Kangangi of Germany-based UCI Continental Team Bike Aid, is on third (15h25’27”).
Team Illuminate’s Simon Pellaud, winner of stage two, remains in fourth place having clocked 15hrs, 25 minutes and 44 seconds while Team Rwanda captain Jean Bosco Nsengimana is fifth with a total of 15hrs, 26 minutes and 11 seconds.
Two-time winner and reigning champion, Valens Ndayisenga, riding for Austria’s UCI Continental team, Tirol Cycling Team remains stuck on 7th position, 2’54” behind the leader.
Team Rwanda rider, Patrick Byukusenge, is in sixth place with 15hrs, 27 minutes and 5 seconds.
Areruya had promised his supporters that he would fight to keep his yellow jersey that he lost last Tuesday in the 2nd stage against Swiss rider Pellaud.
"It is time to work hard and we are in good position to win the race but we need to be ready for the last two stages. I am thankful for my teammates who have been helping me to regain top position,” Areruya said after retaining the leader’s yellow jersey in-front of his adoring home fans in Rwamagana.
It is in Rwamagana that he started his carreer with Les Amis Sportifs de Rwamagana cycling team.
Out of the 64 riders that started stage five, only two, Yannick Lincoln (Mauritius National Team) and Ndayisenga’s Tirol Cycling Team teammate, Moran Vermeulen, did not finish.
In the sixth stage on Saturday, which is the penultimate stage, riders will peddle from Kayonza-Kigali 86.3km+ 4 categorized climbs (including the infamous "Mur de Kigali”) finishing at Kigali Stadium in Nyamirambo.
Meanwhile, stage four winner, Metkel Eyob, claimed his 4th stage on the Tour of Rwanda since 2013, which places him in the lead of the greatest number of stage success tied with Ndayisenga, Mekseb Debesay and Kiel Riejnen.
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