KIGALI: German cyclists Daniel Gathof and Bart Classens of the Shift Up For Rwanda 1 team got off to an impressive start at the 2023 Rwandan Epic-mountain bike race, as they forged an incredible partnership and successfully won the Duo Men Kigali-Kigali prologue of the race that kicked off in the capital of Kigali.
The duo won the 9km race with 27 minutes and 11 seconds, followed by the Kenyan duo Joseph Bobby and Ndung'u Wa Keiya of Team 48, who used 29 minutes and 2 seconds, reports Xinhua.
In the Duo Women category, Rwandan cyclists Diane Ingabire and Valentine Nzayisenga of Team Rwanda won the race on 51 minutes and 55 seconds.
In the Duo Mixed category, Belgian cyclists Melanie Bourgeoui and William Rauw of Team Les Baroudeurs won the race in 41 minutes and 19 seconds, followed by Swedish Johan Kalfas and Anna Kalfas of Team Kalfas in the second position, who used 44 minutes and 50 seconds.
In the Solo Men category, Belgian Olivier Mahieu emerged victorious on 29 minutes and 53 seconds, while Rwandan cyclist Violette Neza won the Solo Women category using 44 minutes and 9 seconds.
"We are very happy with the first stage-prologue. The weather was good, and we had an exciting competition. Most importantly, we had no major crashes, and everyone finished," said Simon De Schutter, one of the event organizers, in an interview with Xinhua at the event.
He added that the race will be exciting in the next stages in the coming days because there is a big battle ahead for competing cyclists.
According to him, the race will also be an opportunity to explore Rwanda's tourist attractions as it cuts across the country.
The event attracted top athletes and well-trained amateurs from across the globe. This year's edition will see mountain bike riders ride from Kigali to Musanze and finally to Rubavu covering 284km.