Cycling: Joseph Areruya (Rwanda) won La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2018. The German Nikodemus Holler (Bike Aid) can look forward to second place. Luca Pacioni (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) won the final stage ahead of two-time stage winner Brenton Jones (Delko-Marseille Provence KTM) and Youcef Reguigui (Sovac-Natura4Ever).
Areruya totally sovereign
Nikodemus Holler tried but just couldn't ride Joseph Areruya out of the yellow jersey. Both sat on the fourth stage with Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie) and Ilia Koshevoy (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia). Nikodemus Holler attacked several times yesterday, but Joseph Areruya always had the perfect answer. Today's stage covered 140 kilometers from Bikélé to Libreville. The wavy circuit enabled an exciting hunt for the escapees. Ultimately, the peloton was able to assert itself once more and the race had to be decided in a mass sprint. After Nikodemus Holler finished third overall last year, he can now look forward to an improvement.
Big day for African cycling
Joseph Areruya had to endure a tricky situation shortly before the finish due to a breakdown, but his team mastered the task with bravura. After winning the Tour du Rwanda in late autumn 2017, Joseph Areruya is celebrating the biggest victory of his career. In general, today will go down in the history of African cycling. South African Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) won the overall classification at the Tour Down Under this morning and his compatriot Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data) won the mountains classification. By the way: Joseph Areruya and Nicholas Dlamini know each other. Both drive for Team Dimension Data. Even if Areruya still drives for the lower-class junior team, he will certainly soon be on the road for the pros too.
Areruya was crowned this afternoon by Gabonese President @PresidentABO as the @tropicale2018 Champion. #Rwanda pic.twitter.com/yEADcDrvoh
— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) 21 January 2018
Cover image source: © www.tropicaleamissabongo.com