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American Timothy Rugg wins prologue stage as Tour of Rwanda kicks off

Xinhua, November 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

American Timothy Rugg won the prologue as the eighth edition of Tour of Rwanda cycling race kicked off on Sunday at Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali.

The rider of the Canadian Team LowestRates left no chance for his rivals to win the 3.3 kilometer time trial.

He beat Eritrean Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of South Africa's Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka after finishing 4 miniutes 0.25 seconds.

"Winning my first victory in Africa has much value for me," Rugg told journalists at a press conference,"I stayed there [Africa] when I was young in Uganda and Kenya but I had never raced African cycling race. I do not know if I will be able to keep my yellow jersey but the long climbs like those of Rwanda are roads that benefit me."

Rwandan Joseph Areruya finished in third place after using 4 minutes, 3.95 seconds.

The favourites of this 8th edition in Sunday's prologue Jean-Bosco Nsengimana of Germany-based UCI Continental Team Stradalli Bike Aid, finished in fifth position on 4 minutes, 4.32 seconds while Valens Ndayisenga of the Dimension Data for Qhubeka and 2014 champion finished in sixth position in 4 minutes, 5.57seconds.

The event has attracted 70 riders, featuring 15 teams.

After the prologue, competition will resume on Monday with Stage 1 where the riders will race on Kigali-Ngoma road, a distance of 96.4 kilometers.

The championship will conclude on November 20 after covering a distance of slightly more than 819 kilometers in seven stages.

General classification

1 - Timothy Rugg (USA - Team Lowestrates.ca)

2 - Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eritrea - Dimension Data for Qhubeka)

3 - Joseph Areruya (Rwanda - Les Amis Sportifs)

4 - Guillaume Boivin (Canada - Cycling Academy Team)

5 - Jean-Bosco Nsengimana (Rwanda - Stradalli-Bike Aid)

Endit