The 14th Tour du Rwanda, which concluded in Kigali on Sunday, was very successful, race director Freddy Kamuzinzi said at a press conference on Wednesday. Arguably the biggest race of the UCI Africa Tour calendar, the race got underway on February 20 and lasted for eight days, with 22-year-old Eritrean Natnael Tesfatsion, who represented Italian side Androni–Giocattoli, coming out victorious for a second time in three years. The race attracted 90 cyclists from a record 19 teams. Kamuzinzi said the race was fascinating in all aspects and ended incident-free. “The race was physically competitive but no major injury cases or accidents were reported. From a medical perspective, many of the injuries were minor and riders were able to continue the race,” he said. No Rwandan rider has won the annual race since its upgrade from 2.2 to 2.1 category in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) hierarchy of cycling competitions worldwide. Tour du Rwanda is one of the only two African races in UCI 2.1 category, alongside Gabon’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. While Rwandan riders have generally struggled in the race for the last four years, Moise Mugisha offered the only solace to home fans with Stage 8 victory – the first by any local cyclist since 2018. Mugisha, who took home the race’s best climber accolade, finished second overall in 2020. He trailed Yellow Jersey winner Tesfatsion by 54 seconds. Besides Mugisha, Team Rwanda head coach Felix Sempoma hailed the performance of his youthful riders in a race of Tour du Rwanda’s caliber. “For me, the performance was better compared to last year’s edition. We wanted the race but we managed a stage. I think we are on the right track as we continue to produce and integrate more young cyclists. Their performance was impressive,” Sempoma said. To raise the level of performance by home riders in future editions, cycling governing body’s president, Abdallah Murenzi, said the federation (Ferwacy) plans to organize many competitions to make the riders more competitive, and also give training to coaches and mechanics. “As we continue to invest in young cyclists, we want to organize several competitions to help them step up their level. Our team comprises young riders who have years to compete and their performance in the just-concluded race gives us hope that they can win races in the near future.” Ferwacy, Murenzi revealed, also plans to work with the sports ministry in introducing cycling in schools under the revised Isonga sports programme that was launched last May.
