Debutant Italian and Team-Delko Marseille Provenance rider Fedeli Alessandro was quick to display his talent on Sunday by winning the first stage of the 2019 Tour du Rwanda in Kigali.
At almost 22, Alessandro has already had a good reputation in the youth category in Italy, including two stages of the Tour of Val d’Aosta but also the GP Della Liberazione U23.
He took advantage of the good work of his team in the last kilometers on the approach of the final circuit with the climb arrival where he kept a sufficient margin of a handful of seconds after his effort in the climb where only Eritrean Yakob Debesay and his Polish teammate Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz followed him after the crash in the last turn.
It was the last episode of the opening leg, where a long 100-kilometer breakaway of four riders took advantage of a lead of more than five minutes.
South African Rohan Du Plooy, Rwandans Moise Mugisha and Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, and Frenchman Florian Hudry were well organized before being caught by the peloton just 8 kilometers before the finish line.
The World Tour Astana team started work at the front of the peloton to prepare the work for his Colombian rider Rodrigo Contreras.
He had believed in the victory by crossing the first line but he had forgotten that there was still a lap. It then allowed the peloton to organize again in the last lap and Italian Alessandro Fedeli to open his hiatorical victory in Rwanda, hitting the finish line leading a bunch sprint alongside Debesay and Kasperkiewicz in 02h41’32.
After the race, Alessandro said, “It’s amazing to win the day of my first race with my new team. It was a perfect day for me, I felt good. The work of the whole team allowed me to be well started. I already have good references with them, it puts me in confidence. This is the first time that I come ride in Africa, I am surprised by the quality of the roads here in Rwanda, much better than at home in Italy. I know that the program of the next days will be more and more difficult in the mountains, it will be very difficult to defend the yellow jersey,’
2017 Tour du Rwanda champion and current African cyclist of the year Joseph Areruya who is riding for French side Team Delko Marseille was the best ranked Rwandan as he finished fourth, coming two seconds behind his winning team mate. He also emerged as the best Rwandan rider after stage one.
Areruya said, “We have seen good teams on the first stage. I am happy that I have finished in the top five. We had a tactic of technically riding together as a team and our mission was well achieved with the yellow jersey victory. We now have a big task of protecting this yellow jersey such that we can keep it going into the next stages.”
Areruya Joseph celebrates the win of his teammate
Another Rwanda, Patrick Byukusenge who is the captain of Benediction Excel Energy club managed a ninth place finish after clocking 02h41’32.
The 2014 Tour du Rwanda winner Ndayisenga Valens finished 10th while reigning champion Mugisha Samuel finished a distant 14th position, all coming six seconds behind the winner.
Rwanda rider Mugisha Moise who finished a distant 64th position was awarded as the most combative rider of stage 1.
Mountain Classification
In the Mountain classification, Pro Touch rider Du Plooy Rohan emerged the winner and was followed by Team Rwanda rider Mugisha Moise while Interpor team rider Hudry Florian finished third.
Sprint classification
Benediction Excel Energy club rider Uwizeyimana Bonaventure emerged the winner and followed by Pro Touch rider Du Plooy Rohan and Interpor team rider Hudry Florian in second and third positions respectively.
Best African ranking
Eritrea’s Debesay Yakob, Delko Marseille Provenance Rwandan rider Joseph Areruya and Kipkemboi of Kenya dominated the first three spots in the best African rankings.
Best Rwandan ranking
Marseille Provenance Rwandan rider Joseph Areruya, Byukusenge Patrick of Benediction Excel Energy and Team Rwanda rider Ndayisenga Valens topped the best Rwandan rankings.
Team Classiifcation
Team Rwanda finished a distant 13th behind leaders Delko Marseille Provenance, Eritrea and Equipe de France Espoirs who took the first three spots in stage one.
Stage two
Action continues on Monday with stage two which will see riders covering 120.3km from Kigali City to Huye District. This is going to be a regular stage with three major tests on the road from Kigali to Huye via Muhanga.
After stage two, riders will take part in one of the grueling and longest stage ever in the history of the race, the grueling 213.1km Stage 3 from Huye to Rubavu.
Stage 5 from Karongi to Musanze (138.7km) will feature three Category 1 climbs and will be decisive for the general classification, while the race will once again wrap up in Kigali next Sunday with a 63.7km circuit in the capital that features seven categorized climbs.
The Tour du Rwanda is having a total elevation of 19,336 meters, including 4,591m and 3,445m at the 3rd and 5th stages, respectively.
2019 Tour du Rwanda
Stage 1 (118.8km) Results
1. Alessandro Fedeli (Delko Marseille Proven, Italy) – 02h41’32”
2. Yakob Debesay Ebrahim (Eritrea) -02h41’32”
3. Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille Proven, Poland) – 02h41’32”
4. Joseph Areruya (Delko Marseille Proven, Rwanda) – 02h41’32”
5. Salim Kipkemboi (Kenya) -02h41’32”
6. Simon Guglirlmi (Equipe de France Espoir) – 02h41’32”
7. Sirak Tesfom (Eritrea) – 02h41’32”
8. Bryan Nauleau (Direct Energie, France) – 02h41’32”
9. Patrick Byukusenge (Benediction Excel Energie) – 02h41’32”
10. Nikita Stalnov (Astana Pro Team) – 02h41’32”
General Classification after Stage 1
1. Alessandro Fedeli (Delko Marseille Proven, Italy) – 02h41’32”
2. Yakob Debesay Ebrahim (Eritrea) -02h41’32”
3. Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille Proven, Poland) – 02h41’32”
4. Joseph Areruya (Delko Marseille Proven, Rwanda) – 02h41’32”
5. Salim Kipkemboi (Kenya) -02h41’32”
6. Simon Guglirlmi (Equipe de France Espoir) – 02h41’32”
7. Sirak Tesfom (Eritrea) – 02h41’32”
8. Bryan Nauleau (Direct Energie, France) – 02h41’32”
9. Patrick Byukusenge (Benediction Excel Energie) – 02h41’32”
10. Nikita Stalnov (Astana Pro Team) – 02h41’32”
2019 Tour de Rwanda stages:
Stage 1 – Sunday February 24: Kigali-Kigali (112.5 km)
Stage 2 – Monday Februart 25: Kigali-Huye (120.3 km)
Stage 3 – Tuesday February 26: Huye – Rubavu (213.1 km)
Stage 4 – Wednesday February 27: Rubavu – Karongi (103 km)
Stage 5 – Thursday February 28: Karongi – Musanze (138.7 km)
Stage 6 – Friday March 1: Musanze – Nyamata (120.5 km)
Stage 7 – Saturday March 2: Nyamata – Kigali (84.2 km)
Stage 8 – Monday March 3: Kigali – Kigali (66.8 km)
