By: Usher Komugisha
Team Rwanda Cycling was yesterday crowned the best African team at the 10th edition of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo Tour in Gabon. The Rwandan riders emerged number one ahead of African giants like Eritrea, Morocco, South Africa, Algeria as well as hosts Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. Team Rwanda finished third in the general classification behind two professional teams, winners Skydive Dubai from the United Arab Emirates and Team Europcar from France. “We are very excited about being the best African team. From the organizers to the teams and fans here in Gabon, everyone is awed by our performance. This is a very big achievement for Rwandan cycling and we are glad we could rewrite history for our country,” explained the excited coach Felix Sempoma.
Sempoma further mentioned that, “We were competing against very tough teams and to think that we finished above four professional teams from Europe is a very big achievement for us.” Team Rwanda also finished above Bretagne Séché-Environment (France), Bike Aid (Germany), Roth-Skoda (Switzerland) and Wanty-Groupe Gobert (Belgium). Meanwhile, 22-year-old Uwizeyimana emerged as the best U-23 rider after registering 23:05:17 to finish ahead of Morocco’s Eddine Salah Mraouni who got 23:05:55 with Eritrea’s Elias Afewerki coming in 3rd position after clocking 23:06:00. Uwizeyimana also finished sixth in the general classification.
www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-02-23/186249/
