Tour du Cameroun called off at last minute

In the one of the most surprising and shocking decisions ever made in history of African cycling, organizers of the 16th Tour du Cameroun cancelled the race on Friday morning, barely a day before its kick-off. The 2.2 UCI category race was scheduled to start today and will through to March 18 across different parts of the West African country. By the time of cancellation, Team Rwanda and a few other teams as well as jury of race commissioners had already arrived in Yaoundé. The 6-man Team Rwanda, led by Jean Bosco Nsengimana, left the country for the race on Thursday morning and was supposed to have a light training session on Friday ahead of Saturday’s would-be stage one kick-off. According to reports, the Cameroonian cycling governing body attributes the last minute race cancellation to insufficiency of funds and lack of support from the Cameroonian government. At the 949.6km long race, Benoit Munyankindi’s Team Rwanda, which was regarded as the team to beat, comprised of six cyclists. Among others, 27-year old Janvier Hadi, who was keen to impress on his the international scene in well over a year. Other riders on the team included; Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, Ephrem Tuyishime, 31-year-old veteran Gasore Hategeka and 20-year old youngster Jean Damascene Ruberwa. The team had Theoneste Karasira as a mechanic and Patrick Kayinamura as a physiotherapist. After the sudden cancellation of the race, Team Rwanda is expected to arrive back in the country tomorrow. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Tour du Cameroun called off at last minute