National cycling team impress in Tour of Eritrea

Classification after stage 2

Top three

1. Yonatan Haile 5:43:10
2. Amanuel Meron 5:43:25
3. Aron Debretsion 5:43:30

Team Rwanda

4. Joseph Areruya 2:43:31
6. Camera Hakuzimana 2:43:34
10. Samuel Mugisha 2:43:44
16. Jean Claude Uwizeye 2:44:17
24. Patrick Byukusenge 5:44:22
28. Ephrem Tuyishime 2:44:22

Team Classification

1. Team Rwanda
2. Team Selina
3. Eritrea

Youth classification

1. Yonatan Haile 5:43:10
2. Joseph Areruya 5:43:31
3. Tesfay Mihreteab 5:43:24
6. Samuel Mugisha 5:43:44
9. Jean Claude Uwizeye 5:44:17
13. Ephrem Tuyishime 5:44:22

After putting on a strong fight against the hosts in the first two stages, Team Rwanda Cycling has proved it’s the team to beat at the ongoing 6th Tour of Eritrea, in Eritrea.

The annual Tour of Eritrea, a UCI 2.2 Category race, started on Tuesday and will run through to April 23 in Africa’s leading cycling nation.

Racing against Africa’s best, Jonathan Boyer’s men continue to impress, with three riders among the top ten, including 18-year old Samuel Mugisha (5:43:44), who is ranked 10th.

Joseph Areruya (5:43:31) is fourth, 21 seconds behind leader Yonatan Yaile (Eritrean) while Camera Hakuzimana (5:43:34) stands in sixth place.

After two stages, Rwanda tops the team classification table, ahead of three Eritrean teams namely; Team Selina, Eritrea national team and Team Tsinaat. Stradalli- Bike Aid completes top five of the eight-team competition.

On Wednesday, youngster Jean Claude Uwizeye finished top of Team Rwanda roster, in the 7th place and the day’s best foreign rider, after using the same time as stage winner Meron Tashome, an Eritrean riding for Germany’s Bike Aid, in a strong sprint finish that had 32 riders, including all six Rwandans, clocking identical time of 2:54:24.

In the youth classification, Eritrea’s Yonatan Haile (5:43:10), who won stage one on Tuesday, tops the table, 21 seconds ahead of Rwanda’s Areruya while Eritrean Tesfay Mihreteab stands third. Samuel Mugisha (6th), Uwizeye (9th) while Ephrem Tuyishime ranks 13th.

Today, riders will race from Mendefera to Massawa in stage four, covering a distance of 172km, the second most grueling stage after Wednesday’s stage (179km) from Tesseney to Agordat. By press time, stage three (Keren – Asmara, 93km) was still underway.