Minister Mukazayire (left) poses for a photo with the winner Doubey (France) and Jean-Guy Afrika, Rwanda Development Board (CEO). Mukazayire said Rwanda is ready to host the UCI Road World Championships.
The conclusion of Tour du Rwanda 2025 was marred by bad weather with just over 13km left to end the race but that did not dampen the spirit that characterised this year’s edition, which was a precursor to the UCI Road World Championships, which Rwanda is set to host from September 21st to 28th, 2025.
Naysayers have been campaigning in vain to have the prestigious world cycling tour event move to somewhere else for political reasons but the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the global cycling body did not heed to the calls, emphasizing that Rwanda will be the host of the race which will be held for the first time on the African continent.
While most African countries are proud of Rwanda hosting the competition for first time, the UCI Road World Championships have been the target of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in its smear campaign against Rwanda.
Speaking at the conclusion of the 16th edition of the annual race, Nelly Mukazayire, Minister of Sports, said that the success of Tour du Rwanda 2025 set the tone for the global competition, with attention now shifting to ensuring that when September comes, Rwanda is ready.
“We are even more excited because Tour du Rwanda used the routes with will be used during the UCI Road World Championships. This confirms that we are more than ready to welcome the world,” a beaming Mukazayire said.
Asked about some teams which didn’t show up due to ‘security concerns’, Mukazayire allayed any fears, pointing out that Rwanda is secure and will continue to be when the UCI Road World Championships come around.
The 16th edition of Tour du Rwanda used routes which will be used during the global tour.
Those looking to blackmail Rwanda had gone on to spread rumours that the UCI had cancelled the cycling race scheduled for September and moved it to Switzerland, which wasn’t true.
The global cycling body said that Rwanda “remains entirely safe for tourism and business”, simply because fighting is confined to DR Congo.
“Following the spread of rumours on this subject, the UCI clarifies that no relocation of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships from Rwanda to Switzerland or any other location is planned at this time,” a statement on the governing body said.
A muddy and rainy end for Tour du Rwanda 2025
Despite the rain and mud that characterised the course on Sunday, leading to the re-routing of the stage, before it was eventually cancelled due to strong winds and thunderstorms, Rwanda showed that it as ready to host one of the most challenging.
The President of the UCI Jury announced the cancellation of the final stage due to unforeseen weather conditions causing slippery roads, halting the course with one lap to go. It meant that the winner was determined based on the General Classification standings of the previous stage (Day 7), which is how Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) emerged the winner of Tour du Rwanda 2025.
Doubey had been in the leader’s yellow jersey after the previous day’s stage 6, which Eritrea’s Nahom Zeray won, and the Frenchman was crowned victor of the overall GC. It was a first stage race title for the 31-year-old.
The French man had been just six seconds ahead of 2023 overall winner Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana), with Oliver Mattheis (BIKE AID) a further five seconds back in third.
Stage 7 was a short but tricky 61.6km route starting and finishing in Kigali, where cyclists did three laps of a 15km circuit, and cut down from a planned 73km route.
The riders had just started the final lap when the peloton came to a halt and reportedly asked to stop the race due to bad weather.
At the time the peloton was just shy of three minutes behind a two-man leading group of Jacob Bush (Development Team Picnic PostNL) and Dawit Yemane (BIKE AID), with another four riders 17 seconds off the leaders.
