ProTouch Cycling take on Africa’s toughest cycling tour
The final stage proved to be a tough day, twice up Mount Kigali as well as two climbs up the Wall of Kigali.
ProTouch Cycling returned to Rwanda to take on Africa’s toughest tour for the third time and took on a total elevation of 17 000 metres, finishing off in fourth place on the General Classification (GC), with six top 10 stage finishes, two top 20 stage finishes and a top 10 in the mountains classification.
The team earned 73 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) points, added to ProTouch’s 2020 points table – reaffirming their position as the number-one team in Africa.
Stage 1 of the tour from Kigali Arena to Kigali Kimironko (114,4 km) got off to a good start, with the team’s first top 10 position with Kent Main finishing in ninth position.
“Today we had nothing to lose and everything to gain; we raced aggressively from the start and managed to get three ProTouch riders in the breakaway.
“I managed to get clear and go solo to the finish. I’m a little disappointed not to get the top step for the team today after such a big effort, but to see that we are now third on GC is a reward in itself,” said Kent after completing Stage 4.
Stage 5 was short but difficult, and ProTouch’s goal was to protect Kent and arrive together for the bunch sprint.
Gustav Basson suffered a puncture with 6km to go, coming back at 3km to go, but too late for the sprint.
With a lot of corners in the last kilometres, Kent managed to keep his third position on GC.
Sports Director, Maxime Martin added, “Without this dedication and focused teamwork, these results would not be possible”.
The final stage proved to be a tough day, twice up Mount Kigali as well as two climbs up the Wall of Kigali.
The mission was to try to move up on the GC, and ProTouch perfectly controlled the race. Kent went on the attack at 15km to go. He finished off in fourth place and fourth on the overall GC, with strong support from HB Kruger, Gustav Basson, James Fourie and Hafetab Weldu.
