Hadi set to race in Tour du Cameroon

Since his comeback from retirement last October, former national cycling team skipper Janvier Hadi is set for his first international competition at the forthcoming 16th Tour du Cameroon. The nine-day long cycling event is scheduled for March 10-18 across different parts of the West African nation. Team Rwanda departs on March 8, two days before starting their bid for glory. The 27-year-old Hadi, who announced his premature retirement in September 2016 due to differences with the Rwanda Cycling Federation returned to the sport in October, and now says he is ready and would be happy to represent the country again. The 2015 All Africa Games road race gold medallist, Hadi, is part of the 6-rider roster that also includes former Tour du Rwanda champion Jean Bosco Nsengimana, Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, former national champion Gasore Hategeka, Ephrem Tuyishime and Jean Damascene Ruberwa. The team, which is under intensive preparations at the Africa Rising Cycling Centre in Musanze, is coached by Benoit Munyankindi. Theoneste Karasira is the mechanic while Patrick Kayinamura will be the team physiotherapist. Born on January 15, 1991, Hadi is regarded as one of the finest cyclists the country has ever known. The Rubavu-born rider, among other milestones, helped Team Rwanda to win bronze in Team Time Trial (TTT) at the 2015 All Africa Games in Brazzaville – Republic of Congo before defying odds to claim the highly-coveted elite men’s road race. Hadi was the prologue winner of the 2013 and 2014 Tour du Rwanda editions, finished second at the 2015 Tour de Cote d’Ivoire to help Team Rwanda finish top in team classification. He won bronze in Under-23 category of the 2013 African Continental Road Championship and finished second at the 2014 national road race championship. Hadi also represented the country at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where he finished 19th in Individual Time Trial (ITT) before failing to finish the main road race where only 12 out of 120 entrants managed to complete the 162km race. Former Germany-based Stradalli-Bike Aid’s rider Hadi, will be hoping to resume from where he left off. His last competitive race before retirement came in July 2016 where he claimed Rwanda Cycling Cup’s Race for Culture in Nyanza district. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Hadi set to race in Tour du Cameroon