Team Rwanda seek to impress in road race as 2017 continental championships nears

Elite Men & U23 Road Race (169km) 9am The 2017 African Continental Championships comes to a climax today after seven days of medal winning, history making and last minute disappointments in Luxor, Egypt. Having already bagged two medals, Team Rwanda riders in the men’s category will today hit the road for their final race in the elite men & U23 category scheduled to pace off at 9am local time. A total of six riders will be in action for Team Rwanda for the 169 kilometer-distance that will go around the city of Luxor. The six riders include Bonaventure Uwizeye and debutant Rene Ukiniwabo who will be competing in their first competition after they did not feature in the Team and Individual Time Trials which the local riders competed in and won bronze medals. The other four riders include Valens Ndayisenga, Samuel Mugisha, Joseph Areruya and Jean Bosco Ndayisenga. The quartet won Rwanda’s first ever medal (bronze) in the Team Time Trial (TTT) on Tuesday. On Thursday, top sprinter Areruya scooped Rwanda’s second bronze in the in U23 Individual Time Trial. Going into this race, the local riders will be aiming to better last year’s performance when Rwanda won a silver medal in the U23 category courtesy of Jean Claude Uwizeye who did not compete in this year’s edition. “We are one of the strong teams here (Egypt) and it’s for that reason that we want to confirm that with medals in this grueling road race, we know many of our opponents from Tour du Rwanda and other competitions and I believe we can out compete them,” said Team Rwanda’s most decorated rider Valens Ndayisenga in a phone interview with Times Sport. Last year in Casablanca, Morocco; reigning African champion Tesfom Okubamariam, from Eritrea, won the gold medal with Algeria’s Youcef Reguigui clinching silver, while another Eritrean, Mekseb Debesay, took the bronze medal. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Sports

Team Rwanda seek to impress in road race as 2017 continental championships nears