The Tour du Rwanda 2022 Eritrean cycling team has been dropped by Covid-19-infected members.
The race will take place between February 20 and 27, 2012.
In an exclusive interview with Times SportAbdallah Murenzi (President of the Rwanda Cycling Federation) stated that the Union Cycliste Internationale has established guidelines that require everyone participating in the race to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
He also noted that in Rwanda, the national policy states that all participants to events must comply with Covid-19 safety guidelines.
“As usual, Eritrea had to send its professional riders to participate in the Tour du Rwanda. But this time around, they had engagements at club level, and therefore, the Eritrean officials decided to go for the local riders, only to find out that they were not vaccinated,” Murenzi explained.
“They emailed us and informed us that they would not participate. We are currently looking at whether Eritrea could be replaced by another team. However, this will require a lot of effort because there are a lot of requirements,” he said.
Eritrea is a team that has performed well in Tour du Rwanda in past editions. They will be missed in 2022 edition.
In 2010, Eritrea’s Daniel Teklehaimanot won the nine-stage tour of Rwanda in 29 hours, 2 minutes and 32 seconds.
Merhawi Kudus was the first man to win Tour du Rwanda 2019 under the UCI2.1 category.
2020: Natnael Tsfazion became third Eritrean to win the Tour du Rwanda.
Rwandans love cycling and were chosen to host 2025 Road World Championships. It is the first African nation to win the event.
Tour du Rwanda 2022:
Israel Start-Up Nation (Israel),Total-Direct Energie (France), B&B Hotels (France), Team Novo Nordisk (USA), Androni-Giocatolli (Italy), Burgos-BH (Spain), Benediction Cycling Team (Rwanda), Pro Touch Team (South Africa), Bike Aid (Germany),TSG Terengganu (Malaysia), Team Coop (Norway), Wildlife Generation Pro (USA), Team SKS Sauerland NRW (Germany), Tarteletto-Isorex (Belgium)
National Teams: Rwanda, Algeria, Morocco, Great Britain
Rwanda will be represented by both the national cycling team as well as Benediction Cycling.
Stages
Stage 1: Kigali Arena – Kigali Arena (4 km ITT).
Stage 2: Kigali–Rwamagana (148km)
Stage 3: Kigali to Ruvavu (152km)
Stage 4: Kigali-Gicumbi (124km)
Stage 5: Muhanga-Musanze (124km)
Stage 6: Musanze-Kigali Convention Center (152km)
Stage 7: Kigali-Mont Kigali (152km)
Stage 8: Kigali Canal Olympia-Kigali Canal Olympia (75km)
Source: rnewtimes
