YACOB DEBESAY WINS TRICKY PENULTIMATE STAGE TOUR DU RWANDA

MeraKudus crashed a few metres before the finish but he was quickly up and managed to keep the yellow jersey!

He only lost 10” to Taaramae and will go into the tough final stage tomorrow with 7 “ on Taaramae, who is 2nd on GC!

SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019 AT 12:24

Yacob Debesay has won the penultimate stage of the Tour du Rwanda. In Kigali he came across the Eritrean solo. On 21 seconds, Alessandro Fedeli finished in second place, Adrien Guillonnet was third. Class leader Merhawi Kudus saw Rein Taaramäe approaching to seven seconds.

The seventh stage took the riders from Nyamata to Kigali over 84.1 kilometers, making it the second-to-last in the road book. It was not easy at all, because the course went up and down. Four cobbled strips were also drawn. Fifteen riders separated early in the race and together they started the first of no less than six climbs.

After some thirty kilometers the lead of the leading group had risen to one and a half minutes. The route was not easy today, but the weather gods were also targeting the riders. On several occasions they got the making with rain showers, which required the necessary caution. At 32 kilometers from the line, Yacob Debesay found it well and accelerated from the leading group.

The Eritrean expanded his lead steadily to almost a minute and that was enough to go solo to the Victory. Behind that, leader Merhawi Kudus tried to drive away several times at his main competitor Rein Taaramäe, but the Est did not crack. In fact, due to a fall from Kudus, he could walk for ten seconds on the Eritrean.

2019»11th Tour du Rwanda (2.1)

Stage 7 » Nyamata › Kigali (84.1k)

Race information

Date: 2nd March 2019
Avg. speed winner: 38.06 km/h
Race category: Men Elite
Start/finish: Nyamata › Kigali
PCS point scale: 2.1.Stage