1. Bisrat Ghebremeskel (Eritrea) – 2:46:31
2. Tsega Beyene (Ethiopia) – 2:46:38
3. Mosana Debesay (Eritrea) – 2:46:38

1. Tesfoam Eyeru Gebru (Ethiopia) – 2:46:38
2. Tigisti Gebrehiwet (Eritrea) – 2:46:38
3. Selam Amha (Ethiopia) – 2:46:46

BISRAT Ghebremeskel was on Saturday afternoon crowned champion in elite women’s road race at the concluding 13th African Continental Road Championship in Kigali - Rwanda.

The Eritrean international will be regarded as ’African champion’ in women’s cycling for one year, until the 14th continental championships in February 2019. Ghebremeskel replaces Aurelie Halbwachs of Mauritius who won the highly coveted crown last year at the 12th edition of the annual showpiece in Cairo, Egypt.

Ethiopia’s Tsega Beyene finished second to walk away with silver after using 2 hours, 46 minutes and 38 seconds to cover the 84km distance of the race, 7 seconds behind gold medalist Bisrat Ghebremeskel. Mosana Debesay, another Eritrean, finished third to secure a podium finish and a bronze medal.

In the Under-23 category, Tesfoam Eyeru Gebru finished top to be the only non-Eritrean gold medalist of the day while compatriot Selam Amha bagged a bronze in the same category. Eritrea’s Tigisti Gebrehiwet took silver.

After today’s races, Eritrea tops the medal table with a total 16 medals, including 10 gold pieces. Ethiopia stand second with 13 medals, of which 3 are gold. The hosts Rwanda rank third with 8 medals, 2 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals respectively.

The five-day long Africa’s biggest and most prestigious cycling event started on Wednesday and will be climaxing this Sunday with the U23 & elite men’s road race.