Foreign teams set to compete at the upcoming 10th Tour du Rwanda will begin arriving in the country today as the annual UCI Africa Tour race nears kick-off. This year’s edition gets underway Sunday and will run through August 12 across the country. A total of 14 teams including a UCI professional continental team, UCI continental teams, national teams and non-professional cycling clubs from outside are expected to grace the eight-stage race. The foreign teams will be joined by three home teams, namely, Team Rwanda Cycling, Club Benediction, and Les Amis Sportifs de Rwamagana. With the number of teams increasing to seventeen, the number of cyclists to ride Tour du Rwanda this year has hit a record 85. Speaking to Times Sport yesterday, Rwanda Cycling Federation’s (Ferwacy) Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Murenzi revealed that Cameroon national cycling team are the latest addition and are expected in Kigali this Friday. According to a tentative schedule of arrivals, Team Loup Suisse Romandie of Switzerland were supposed to jet in last night at 1am CAT as the first time to arrive in the country. Another four teams expected today include; France’s Pays Olonne Cycliste Côte de Lumière (POCCL), which boasts of Rwandans Valens Ndayisenga and Jean Claude Uwizeye; Team Haute-Savoie Rhone-Alpes and Marc Pro Gym One Cycling Team as well as Team Novo Nordisk Pro Cycling from United States. South African side Team Sampada which boasts Rwandan veteran Adrien Niyonshuti, Kenyan Riders Safaricom, Bai Sicasal-Petro de Luanda from Angola, South Africa national team and Cameroon arrive Friday. By press time Wednesday, only Eritrea and Ethiopia were yet to release their itinerary. Half of the delegation of Germany’s Team Embrace the World – with two-time stage winner Timothy Rugg – arrives today and will be joined by their teammates on Saturday. “Everything is in place to welcome each arriving team, and we hope that all teams will be here in time for the opening ceremony on August 4 at Kigali Convention Center,” Murenzi said. The team presentation ceremony is aimed at celebrating Tour du Rwanda’s ten-year anniversary since the annual race got incorporated in UCI Africa Tour calendar. It will be the last time that the event will be held as a 2.2 UCI category race as it is set to be upgraded to 2.1 effective next year. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
