Joseph Biziyaremye wins final stage as Reijnen retains his overall standing of Tour of Rwanda 2011
The 23-year-old, Joseph Biziyaremye (Rwanda Akagera) won the seventh and the final stage of Tour of Rwanda 2011 on Saturday, November 26. This was the first time that the Tour of Rwanda was registered in the UCI calendar.
Over the 12 kilometres, Biziyaremye displayed a good effort and rigorously powered on the final climb to take his first stage victory of the race with a timing of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 53 seconds.
The national coach of Team Rwanda, Jock Boyer, told Cyclingnews.com that this victory is a good example for the other young cyclists of the team.
The overall race leader, Kiel Reijnen of Type 1-Sanofi was in the runner-up’s spot, nine seconds adrift, while his teammate Joey Rosskopf finished third.
After winning the domestic race and spending one month in the UCI continental center, Biziyaremye joined the Rwanda Akagera Team.
With a few kilometres to go, four cyclists gained a lead of a few seconds. There were: Richard Laizer (Tanzania National), Weldemikael Weyo (Ethiopia National), Nicodem Habiyambere (Rwanda Karisimbi) and Dylan Girdlestone (Team MTN Qhubeka).
Laizer took the highest points in the mountain standing, while Kbrom Giday (Ethiopia National) attacked and gained a lead on the second mountain.
However, in the final two climbs, Biziyaremye increased his pace and beat Habiyambere. Meanwhile, Reijnen tried his best to catch him but failed and Joseph crossed the finish-line first to take his victory.
Reijnen put up a brilliant effort to successfully retain his overall standing, with a timing of 21 hours, 21 minutes and 44 seconds. Rosskopf was in the second place, 2 seconds down to the American.
He said, “It's a very important victory for my morale. The team was amazing. This victory is definitely a team effort. I also have to congratulate the Rwandan team which put so many riders into the leading group and MTN for having controlled the race today”.
Dylan Girdlestone (Team MTN Qhubeka) did not perform as impressively because he was sick for the past two days but he grabbed the third place with a difference of 40 seconds ahead of Nathan Byukusenge (Rwanda Karisimbi).
Dylan admitted that, “I struggled since kilometre zero,” he admitted. “If my chest had been better, I think I could have won the race.”
Adrien Niyonshuti displayed good mountain climbing skills and snatched the overall mountain standing with 127 points ahead of Kbrom Giday.
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