Team Rwanda rider Jean Bosco Nsengimana is all smiles after head coach Felix Sempoma handed him yet another selection in his five-man final roster for the much-anticipated Tour du Rwanda 2023 slated for February 19-26.
Nsengimana features for Sempoma’s final roster for the race alongside Moise Mugisha, Samuel Niyonkuru, Vaincaire Masengesho and Eric Manizabayo.
With the latest selection, the 31-year-old will be making his appearance in Tour du Rwanda for the 13th time, extending his own record as the most capped Rwandan rider in the history of the race.
Nsengimana became the first rider with most Tour du Rwanda appearance in when he played it for the 10th time in 2020, breaking Gasore Hategeka’s record who made nine appearances between 2009 and 2017.
The Tour du Rwanda 2015 winner said that he will be looking forward to impressing at this year’s edition and put up better performance that he did in 2022 when he was riding for Benediction Ignite.
"On my part, I am well prepared, I am happy that I am going to play the Tour du Rwanda for the 13th time. I am well-prepared, I hope to do better with my teammates and, personally, I think I am going to have a better race than last year," he said.
Nsengimana revealed that his love for cycling and discipline are among the things that helped him and still keeping him up in the running for top cycling races of Tour du Rwanda caliber.
"The first thing I would say is to have discipline and, secondly, love the game. This is my career, that&039;s why I've been playing Tour du Rwanda this long,” he explained.
No Rwandan has won Tour du Rwanda since it Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctioned the race to 2.1 back in 2019 and Nsengimana called upon Rwandans to support his team from different routes where the race will pass to help them boost their hopes of winning the stages in this year's race.
"Tour du Rwanda is not easy, it is hard. We are riding in a great competition. We are in good shape and, with Rwandans’ support from different parts across the country, we hope to fight so we finally keep Tour du Rwanda glory at home...even though it is difficult," he said.
Nsengimana, who is famous for throwing mountains, is one of the best Rwandan athletes who took the cycling game by story since 2010.
He rose to fame paying for then Team Rwanda- Kalisimbi between 2014 and 2015. He moved to German cycling side Bike Aid after winning Tour du Rwanda 2015.
In 2019, Nsengimana was announced as a player for parent team Benediction Club. He also played for Skol Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy (SACA).
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Among the major races he has performed well include the African Championship where he helped Team Rwanda win Bronze in 2017 and 2023 in Ghana while he also won some local races as an individual in 2022.
He also won the Silver medal with Team Rwanda during the 2018, 2019 and 2021 African Championships besides individual medals in the same event in 2018 and 2019.