Bad weather disrupts final stage of Tour of Rwanda: peloton pulls out, Doubey takes overall victory
CyclingSunday, 02 March 2025 at 16:01
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Follow us on GoogleThe final stage of the Tour of Rwanda has been canceled. Bad weather made it impossible to finish the race, and the route had already been changed due to mud on the road. After seven days of racing, Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) is now the overall winner of the African race.
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The Tour of Rwanda began with a short prologue of 3.4 kilometers. The 19-year-old Aldo Tailleu (Lotto) was the strongest in Kigali, the country's capital. The Belgian managed to stay two seconds ahead of overall winner Doubey and teammate Milan Menten. The first stage was for the fast men with stamina: after 157 kilometers of relatively flat racing, the finish was uphill in Kayonza. On that day, Henok Mulubrhan secured the victory for the Eritrean team. Tailleu had already lost the leader's jersey.
Stage 2 was also tough: after a short 112-kilometer ride, with 2200 meters of climbing, Israel - Premier Tech managed to win. Brady Gilmore beat teammate Itamar Einhorn, making it a one-two for the team. The 23-year-old Australian also managed to win the third stage after being the best of an elite group. In stage four, he was close again, but he finished three seconds behind the stage winner, Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies).
Read more below the video!
Young Belgians and Eritreans at the top in Rwanda
After the success of the prologue, there was another Belgian celebration in the fifth stage. Once again, the youth left their mark, as the climber Duarte Marivoet (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) managed to surprise the group of favorites and crossed the line 25 seconds ahead of the second group. However, TotalEnergies controlled the race effectively and fared well in the sixth stage, the queen stage to Kigali. The day's victory may have gone to Nahom Zeray, but Doubey (then second in the GC behind teammate Delbove) finished fourth, 14 seconds behind. This left him six seconds ahead of Mulubrhan and eleven seconds ahead of Oliver Mattheis (BIKE AID).
It promised an exciting final stage, with Mont Kigali and the Mur de Kigali on the program. These climbs are both included in the route of the cycling world championships in September. Unfortunately, it did not come to a battle. The weather was dreadful: the race had to change route after the original roads transformed into mud. After trying for a while, the cyclists hit the brakes: the roads were too slippery, the wind was too strong, and there was even lightning.
Read more below the photo!
Discussion between TotalEnergies and Eritrea
Not everyone agreed with the decision. The Eritrean national team was too eager to continue, seeing an opportunity with Mulubrhan to win the leader's jersey. A challenging discussion ensued, but in the end, it was decided to cancel the race. Doubey thus secured the final victory, but with a bittersweet aftertaste. It is not the first time this year that riders have opted not to continue: in the Trofeo Andratx, the peloton also refused to race after several crashes.
Final standings Tour of Rwanda 2025
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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