9 exciting days at the Tour du Rwanda come to an end and BIKE AID rewards itself with a great result! From stage to stage the gaps in the GC became smaller. Henok Mulubrhan and Jesse Ewart worked their way closer to the top of the overall standings every day with the help of extremely strong efforts from Adne van Engelen, Nikodemus Holler and Wesley Mol.
After the sixth stage Henok was third. Jesse fifth. One day later they swapped places. With 26 seconds behind the leader Natnael Tesfazion, Jesse and his teammates started the last stage this morning. On the schedule was a lap through Kigali, which was looped four times. That means four times up the tough cobblestone climbs Mur de Kigali and Rebero!
A small breakaway quickly formed and managed to pull away from the peloton to the finish. The Rwandan rider Mois Mugisha rode up the last climb with two competitors from TotalEnergies. They left him with the final stage win and thousands of fans erupted in celebration.
The riders of BIKE AID also showed why they deserved to win the team classification today. When Adne van Engelen had technical problems, Nikodemus Holler was waiting to bring him back into the group. Wesley Mol led Henok and Jesse into the climbs. These are just examples of the team spirit of the last 9 days of racing!
Today's stage was finished by Eritrean Henok and Australian Jesse in the top 10. Each rider of BIKE AID showed will, ability to suffer and an all-around extremely strong performance in the last days, which gives hope for a good season!