Junior men, top three
1. Biniam Hailu (Eritrea) – 1:56:43
2. Tomas Yosief (Eritrea) – 1:56:43
3. Hager Mesfin (Eritrea) – 1:59:42
Junior women, top three
1. Desiet Kidane (Eritrea) – 1:32:26
2. Tsadkan Kasahun (Ethiopia) – 1:36:05
3. Zayid Hailu (Ethiopia) – 1:36:05
ERITREAN riders continued their lethal form at the ongoing 13th African Continental Road Championship, winning a total four medals in junior road races on Saturday morning in Kigali.
The all-Eritrea podium finish in male category and gold in junior women’s fray saw Eritreans stretching the medal haul for Africa’s top cycling nation to 13 medals, of which eight are gold pieces, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals respectively.
Eritrean youngster Biniam Hailu clinched gold in junior men’s category in a two-man sprint finish with compatriot Biniam Hailu. Both used one hour, 56 minutes and 43 seconds to cover the 84km distance. Hager Mesfin, also from Eritrea, finished third to win bronze.
Start of the Road Race Women Junior
In junior women’s road race, 17-year old Desiet Kidane of Eritrea bagged a gold to make it two gold medals on her name after winning the Individual Time Trial (ITT) accolade on Thursday. Ethiopia’s duo of Tsadkan Kasahun and Zayid Hailu finished second and third respectively.
The 2018 newly crowned champions Biniam replaces last year’s winner Hamza Mansouri of Algeria while Kidane dethroned Ethiopian Haftu Hailu Zayd who claimed last year’s title in junior women’s road race.
So far only six nations; Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Algeria and Namibia out of 23 countries in competition, have managed to win at least one medal. Some of the usual suspects such as South Africa, Morocco and Egypt are yet to win a single medal in Kigali.
