Stages Jan. 20: Bitam – Ebolowa (150 km) Jan. 21: Bitam – Oyem (110 km) Jan. 22: Mitzic – Ndjolé (180 km) Jan. 23: Lambaréné – Mouila (190 km) Jan. 24: Lambaréné – Kango (145 km) Jan. 25: Port Gentil – Port Gentil (130 km) Jan. 26: Nkok – Libreville (130 km) TEAM Rwanda Cycling – and Joseph Areruya – will be looking for a second La Tropicale Amissa Bongo title when the race’s 15th edition gets underway on January 20. The seven-stage race, with a record distance of 1,035 kilometers, will run through January 26 across five provinces of Gabon with an incursion into neighboring Cameroon. National team’s assistant coach Felix Sempoma, who will be in charge of the team in Gabon, has urged his riders to have a focused mind and be ready for the tough mission ahead. “We have tasted victory in Gabon before, so we know that it is possible. We just need to have focused minds and work hard and smart stage after stage,” said Sempoma. Under Sempoma’s tutelage in 2018, Areruya became the first Rwandan to win the famous African race after holding onto coveted Yellow Jersey from Stage 4. Led by Areruya, the six-man lineup for this year’s Amissa Bongo also includes Samuel Mugisha, Moise Mugisha, Didier Munyaneza, Renus Byiza Uhiriwe and Jean Claude Nzafashwanayo. Speaking to Times Sport on Sunday, former African Cyclist of the Year Areruya praised the team’s spirit and attitude in the camp as they enter the final two weeks of training. “We have lately had quite a good schedule of preparations, and competitions,” he said. “We still got two weeks of training, and we want to utilise them properly so we can be in the best shape possible before the race. But, we are almost ready for the challenge.” The Gabonese race will kick off the UCI Africa Tour calendar, just 24 hours before the opening of the World Tour season in Australia at the Tour Down Under and a week before the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina. The 90 riders representing 17 different countries will start from Oyem in Northern Gabon on January 20, for the first of seven stages. Areruya and Eritrean Natnael Berhane will be the only former winners of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in this year’s peloton.
