Jhonatan Restrepo won stage three of Tour du Rwanda 2024 on Tuesday
Colombian cyclist Jhonatan Restrepo, riding for the Polti Kometa team, won stage three of Tour du Rwanda 2024 on Tuesday afternoon after putting forth a massive sprint to the finish line, while Pepijn Reinderink snatched the yellow jersey.
The 29-year-old triumphed the 140.3-km route, which commenced in Huye and finished in Rusizi, in three hours, 46 minutes, and 41 seconds to mark his record third stage win of Tour du Rwanda after winning in 2020 and 2022.
Peter Joseph Blackmore of Israel-Premier Tech emerged second.
There was a thrilling bunch sprint in the final 100 metres with the first 16 riders clocking the same time on the finish line.
The second-longest stage was started by 92 riders, and the riders had first covered 2.5 km of the neutralized zone before the exact start.
Four riders including Didier Munyaneza of Team Rwanda, Kiya Rogora of Centre Mondial du Cyclisme, Bike Aid’s Yoel Habteab, and Dillon Geary of South Africa broke away early on and held off for long, bringing about a three-minute-and-55-second advantage after 75 kilometres over a 70-rider peloton.
However, things changed drastically in the final 10 kilometres as William Junior Lecerf, and stage-two winner Itamar Einhorn, among others stepped up to go ahead with 15 seconds.
Jhonatan Restrepo storms the finish line to win stage three of Tour du Rwanda 2024 on Tuesday
A tumultuous bunch sprint in the end saw Lecerf, and Einhorn, among others banging their handlebars after failing to keep up with Restrepo on the finish in the highly-crowded town of Rusizi district.
Java-Inovotec Pro Team’s Moise Mugisha was the Best Rwandan on the stage following his 19th-place finish to move into the 17th position on the general classification, just seven seconds shy of current leader Reinderink.
Aklilu Arefayne of Eritrea, who finished sixth, racked up the Best African award, while Lennert Teugels, who rides for Bingoal WB, was rewarded for his climbing effort as the Best Climber of stage three.
Reinderink, riding for Soudal Quick-Step, grabbed the overall lead after finishing third. The 21-year-old Dutch rider has, thus far, used 7 hours, four minutes, and 12 seconds, levelling on time with the other 15 riders.
The race continues on Wednesday in a 93-kilometre circuit from Karongi to Rubavu, with the riders vying in the fourth stage and hitting the road at 11:30 a.m.
The 16th edition of Tour du Rwanda, which is underway in Rwanda from February 18 to 25, will cover a total distance of 718.9 kilometres, making it the shortest since 2009.
Organized by the Rwanda Cycling Federation (FERWACY) and Ministry of Sports, Tour du Rwanda has been rated on a 2.1 level on the UCI Africa Tour since 2019. Since then, no Rwandan rider has won the race, and Moise Mugisha is the only Rwandan to win a stage, a milestone he achieved in February 2022 while riding for South African cycling team Protouch.
