BONAVENTURE Uwizeyimana has emphasized he will not be blindfolded by his recent success, saying that it is rather a big motivation ahead of the 2018 Tour du Rwanda. The 25-year old Team Rwanda rider made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Times Sport on Monday following Saturday’s Race to Remember victory in Nyanza district. The one-day race is organized every year since 2015, in honour of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This year’s race attracted a total 37 riders who were flagged off from Kigali at Gitikinyoni towards Nyanza in South Province – a 130-Kilomètre distance in the elite men & U23 category. Fresh from winning the 15th Tour du Cameroun, Uwizeyimana replicated his recent stellar performances to outcompete 36 cyclists, making it his third victory in less than three weeks. The Club Benediction’s rider clocked 3 hours, 36 minutes and 49 seconds, one minute and thirty seconds ahead of first runner-up Gasore Hategeka who riders for Nyabihu Cycling Club. The latter is a former winner of the 2nd Rwanda Cycling Cup – in 2016. “I am happy and thankful for how I am doing so far this season; I have set very ambitious targets this year. I want people to know a new ‘Bona’ (his famously known name) completely different from who they knew,” he told Times Sport yesterday. “My focus since the start of this year is on Tour du Rwanda, it’s a prestigious race that I want to do my best and win. I have the caliber and talent, I simply need to keep working hard and listening to my coaches’ instructions,” he further noted. Last year, Uwizeyimana who was riding for Club Benediction, won Stage five from Nyamata to Rwamagana, a distance of 93.2 kilometres but finished 32nd on the general classification. The 2018 Tour du Rwanda is scheduled for August 5-12, with the road map set to be announced on Wednesday (tomorrow) in a press briefing at Classic Hotel, in Kicukiro. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
