Tour du Rwanda: African challenge fades as Blackmore wins
+ Kiya Rogora tells us about his time in Rwanda, racing through illness and hopes for this season.
With so much racing in the last few days, you can be forgiven for missing out on all the details of what happened in the final few stages of the biggest race in Africa.
It was a Tour du Rwanda with some interesting storylines. One champion of African cycling said goodbye to the sport, new ones vied to show that they could be among the next ones but, ultimately, the European-based riders showed their class.
Last week, we looked at the first four stages. Before giving a summary of stages five to eight, Ethiopian prospect Kiya Rogora gives a run-down of his Tour du Rwanda.
Last year, Rogora was in a hopeful place. He was riding for a WorldTour development squad, EF-Nippo Devo, and was competing in some of the biggest under-23 races in the world in search of a professional contract.
Over the winter, the team folded. Rogora was left without options, with almost every door closing to him. Adding to that, he had finished his 2023 early with a crash and a broke collarbone.
After falling short of finding a contract, Rogora has taken advantage of his Italian passport and signed for amateur team Maltinti Lampadari-Banca Cambiano. The 20-year-old hopes to re-build from there towards his ultimate goal of a professional contract.
Rogora was riding the Tour du Rwanda for the UCI World Cycling Centre team, led by his countryman and idol Tsgabu Grmay. Unfortunately, the race didn’t go to plan for Rogora. He suffered with illness after the team time trial on day one, fighting on for three more days before finishing stage four outside the time limit.
Here’s the story of Kiya Rogora’s Tour du Rwanda. He starts by talking about his preparations for the race:
The winter training didn’t go as planned. I really started late, I was so unfit getting back to the bike…some personal issues I had with family, it had been a bit of a rough time. Also I was a bit overweight after the injury and the situation I had with the team. I really prepared well for the last month in Rwanda on the training camp I had with the UCI WCC. But I was not coming with 100% shape.
The last days before the race I was feeling good. The numbers were getting better and I was hoping for a stage win maybe from the breakaway or a small group sprint but it didn’t happen.
It’s my first Tour du Rwanda, it was really nice. It’s a really beautiful country. I really enjoyed it. Especially I’ve been here the past five weeks on an altitude training camp. It’s really nice for training, I really liked it. For the race, the experience was not that good because I only rode four stages and I was unable to finish because I was sick. So I cannot say I enjoyed the race.
I had food poisoning from stage one. Stage one I was OK, I thought it was a feeling that would come and go away, but from that night I really got ill. Stage two was awful. I had no power on the climbs and it was really tough to continue the race but I kept fighting. I was hoping that I would get better legs in the coming days, but it kept getting worse and worse. I couldn’t recover from it. My glycogen store was gone and stage four was really bad, a really bad day on the bike.
Stage four was a short stage, 90k, but starting with the climbs and long climbs in the middle and end. I was feeling really bad from the start. I knew I had to try to make the breakaway that day just to survive the stage. I was not good enough. That time my main goal was just to finish the race. From the first climb there was no power left in my legs from the sickness I had. It was a long day for me. I just kept riding, took it as training and finished the race but unfortunately for me I didn’t make the time-cut.
It feels like all the hard work and preparation have gone wrong and gone upside-down, so it feels really disappointing that I had this goal but I couldn’t achieve it. It was really disappointing but we learn from the mistakes and move forward.
I really enjoyed the team time trial, I was feeling really good there. We worked really well as a team and the preparation towards the tour was really exciting and the altitude camp with the UCI. I want to thank the WCC for this opportunity and JP van Zyl [UCI WCC Africa Director] for this opportunity. For the coach I have, Clint [Hendricks], and the staff, mechanic, to make all this happen and to participate in the tour. Thanks to them.
Next, Rogora will stay in Africa for a few more weeks before heading to Italy.
I’m looking forward to start the All African Games in two weeks’ time. It’s going to be in Ghana so it will be a flat parcours. I think with the weight I have it will suit me well. I’m looking forward to the time trial, I just need to do some homework back home and then we see how it goes. That’s a really big goal for me right now. It has really big UCI points and that’s essential for me to get a contract next year or in the middle of the season.
Straight after that race, I’m going to go to Italy to my team. It’s going to be a new adventure and I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to do a lot of racing in Italy, in Tuscany. It feels like going back to my second country and I’m looking forward to it. We have a really big calendar there. Most of them are national races.
The big goals for the season will be the All African Games. The national champs for sure, I want to get my title back. The World Champs and the Tour de l’Avenir are big goals. Especially Tour de l’Avenir, I really want to work for that and get a solid result there and see what I can get from that. But I’m also not underestimating the Italian races. They can bring opportunities along the way so I’m really looking forward to them.
We go forward and we see what we can get in the future. I will put the hard work in and hopefully come back to the pro peloton.
It’s been a really rough time. Sometimes it seems impossible to get back but I’m not giving up. I still believe I have something to give in this sport and I’m still going.
The Tour du Rwanda was especially significant for Rogora as he got to race with Tsgabu Grmay in his final race. Grmay has been an inspiration to all the Ethiopian riders coming through now. Rogora wanted to add a tribute to him.
One thing I want to say is that Tsgabu Grmay is retiring and I’m really happy to be part of his last race. It means a lot and it’s a really big pleasure. Before I start doing cycling, I used to see him as an idol, he was the only one who made it from Ethiopia, racing the Tour de France and in the World Tour.
He inspired me a lot and he was my childhood inspiration. To get beside him, getting experiences and learning a lot from him. I would like to say thank you for everything he has done for Ethiopian cycling. I want to say happy retirement. He’s a legend.
Blackmore wins as African challenge fades
When Rogora left the race on day four, there was hope among African cycling fans that an African could challenge for the podium. Teenager Aklilu Arefayne was sitting on the same time as the leader and looked good.
The stage 5 TT was always going to be crucial for the overall and so it proved. Arefayne finished more than two minutes behind winner Pierre Latour. William Junior Lecerf moved into the overall lead of the race.
There was disappointment for another young Eritrean. Yoel Habteab went into the stage leading the mountain classification but finished it outside of the time limit. Habteab had planned to save his energy during the TT for the days ahead, but his Sports Director got the calculations wrong, he went too slow and had to leave the race. His Sports Directors apologised to Habteab in a video on social media.
Stage 6 was the queen stage of the race, with a tough finish up Mont Kigali. This is the day the Blackmore showed his prowess, beating the winner of stage three Jhonatan Restrepo to the line and taking the yellow jersey.
Arefayne faded further, but there was a strong result from his team-mate Nahom Zerai. The Q36.5 Continental rider finished an impressive fourth. Dawit Yemane had been consistent throughout the race and moved up into the top-10.
Stage 7 was an easier stage won by Itamar Einhorn, the Israeli champion taking his second stage win of the week.
On the final day, stage 8, Blackmore confirmed that he was the strongest rider of the race. He bossed the finale and was comfortable enough to come across the line with a wheelie.
With Blackmore winning on the final day, it meant that this was only the second Tour du Rwanda in the history of the race without an African stage winner. The other being in 2021.
It was also the worst-best GC result for an African rider at the race. Yemane’s 10th place was one place lower than Zerai’s 9th, also in 2021.
The link between the 2024 and 2021 editions is that they are the only two editions since the race has moved the UCI .1 status which hasn’t featured a professional African rider (i.e. in a WorldTour or ProTeam team). The level among the European teams coming to the race is growing every year. This surely had an impact. Had Henok Mulubrhan not broken his collarbone at the AlUla Tour, this race could have been very different from an African perspective.
It’s not all gloom when considering the performance of African riders, however.
Although he faded in the second half of the race, Arefayne’s first four stages indicated his potential. He could be on for a big year in Europe. Habteab could too, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see him finish the race.
There was some Rwandan success as well. Shemu Nsengiyumva of the Rwandan continental team May Stars won the sprints jersey, taking it off the shoulders of his compatriot Didier Munyaneza on the last day. Young Vaincaire Masengesho also showed some good climbing legs on his way to 18th overall.
I think we can evaluate the results as mixed. There is some hope, there always is, but also much work ahead. It will be interesting to see who can kick-on from their week in Rwanda, especially with the target of Kigali 2025 edging ever closer.
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Race Round-up
The Turkish racing calendar is in full swing now. It was the Tour of Alanya on Sunday. Natnael Berhane (ERI), Burak Abay (TUR) and Kohei Yokotsuka (JAP) all scored top-10 finishes.
Uruguay’s Thomas Silva has had strong start to his professional career. Having joined Caja Rural-Seguros RGA over the winter, Silva has had several results of note. Most recently he finished 14th overall at O Gran Camiño, including 5th on stage 3.
In Argentina, the nine-day Vuelta a Mendoza was won by Laureano Rosas.
Mexican Sofia Arreola Navarro won the overall at the Tucson Bicycle Classic in the USA. Cuba’s Marlies Mejias Garcia took the final stage.
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