Tour du Rwanda 2023 was flagged off by the Minister of Sports Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju.
The first stage of Tour du Rwanda 2023 was flagged off on Sunday in Kigali today by the Minister of Sports, Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju at Kigali Golf and Resort Villas with 100 riders competing in 16 teams.
This year’s Tour Du Rwanda, the 15th edition, promises to be the ultimate race with incredible scenes that cycling enthusiasts across the globe anticipate to witness as professional cyclists, who include the legendary Chris Froome, crisscross the land of 100 hills.
By press time, Team Rwanda’s Jean Bosco Nsengimana and James Fouche of Bolton Equities Black Spoke were leading the pack. From February 19-26, the peloton will take on in Rwanda country of thousand Hills and one of the greatest countries at the continent in cycling regarded the success of this UCI annual event as the top African road race of the year.
This year there are 4 new nationalities competing, including China, Indonesia, Japan and Latvia while there are new 9 teams in this year’s edition compared to 5 last year.
Riders heading to Eastern Province.
The new teams include Soudal-QuickStep Devo Team (Belgium), Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland), Green Project-Bardiani (Italy, EuskaltelEuskadi (Spain), China Glory Continental Cycling Team (China), Bolton Equities Black Spoke (New Zealand), EF Education-Nippo Development Team (USA), Tartu2024 (Estonia), May Stars (Rwanda.
As of now, the most represented country in 2023 is Great Britain with 10 riders present in 6 different teams (the National Selection, Israel-Premier Tech, Soudal-QuickStep, Bolton Equities Black Spoke, EF Education-Nippo Development and Novo Nordisk) followed by the Rwandans with 9 riders in 3 teams (National Selection, Bike Aid and May Stars).
By press time, the riders had arrived in Rwamagana district, Eastern Province, with the 1,15.5 km course expected to produce the first owner of the yellow jersey. Stay tuned for more details.
