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Canada’s Guillaume Boivin Wins Stage 1 at Tour du Rwanda

by Ben Andrew
Guillaume Boivin wins Stage 1  ©  Tour du Rwanda
November 14, 2016 (Kigali, Rwanda) – For the second day in a row, North Americas have made their mark on the Tour du Rwanda, with 2015 Canadian national road race champion, Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy), taking the win from a reduced group of 18 riders.

Boivin wins Stage 1  ©  Ben Andrew
Timothy Rugg of the Canadian LowestRates.ca Cycling Team was unable to keep his yellow jersey. Joeseph Areruya (Club Les Amis Sportifs De Rwamagana), who finished 2nd overall last year in the Tour du Rwanda, now leads with a 1-second advantage over Boivin. Last year’s General Classification winner, Jean Bosco Nsengimana (Stradalli – Bike Aid), sits in 3rd on GC, also at one second back.

 ©  Ben Andrew
The stage was a relatively flat affair, at least in comparison to the upcoming stages, with only one Category 3 climb along the route. Riders raced the 96.8km between Kigali and Ngoma, completing the stage in 2:12:35. Boivin was active throughout the day, initially in a move of seven riders after the 42km mark.

The Canuck would carry on from this group solo, as the rest were absorbed by the bunch, before being joined by Nathan Byukusenge (Rwanda Equipe Nationale) and Omer Goldshtein (Cycling Acedemy). The three worked well together until they were joined by five others, including Nsengimana.

Guillaume Boivin  ©  Ben Andrew
Although the break looked doomed with about 25km to go, the addition of 10 riders who bridged across the 25-second gap gave the lead group the power it needed to stay away. Boivin crossed the line with a 1:55 advantage over the peloton. While the Tour du Rwanda was not won today, a serious GC selection was made that will be hard to come back from.

The Rwanda nation continued to show its massive support for cycling, with thousands of people lining the route. With the race heading West tomorrow for Stage 2 over 6 categorized climbs, including the first Cat 1 climb of the race, the massive support for the riders will be welcome. After the 90km mark, the race will descend down into the town of Karongi along the shores of Lake Kivu. With the lead group on GC still so close, it is very likely that the yellow jersey may change hands again.

Fans  ©  Ben Andrew

Results (brief)

1. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cycling Academy Team 2:12:35
2. Zemenfes Solomon (Eri) Eritrea National Team
3. Tesfom Okubamariam (Eri) Eritrea National Team
4. Temesgen Buru (Eth) Mebrahtu Ethiopia National Team
5. Metkel Eyob (Eri) Dimension Data For Qhub
6. Jean-Claude Uwizeye (Rwa) Les Amis Sportifs
7. Sébastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Haute-Savoie/Rhone-Alpe
8. Elyas Afewerki (Eri) Eritrea National Team
9. Dimitri Bussard (Sui) Meubles Descartes Prod
10. Joseph Areruya (Rwa) Les Amis Sportifs

71. Cameron McPhaden (Can) Team Lowestrates.ca 13:50
72. Stephen Keeping (Can) Team Lowestrates.ca 13:50

GC after Stage 1

1. Joseph Areruya (Rwa) Les Amis Sportifs 2:16:38
2. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cycling Academy Team 0:01
3. Jean Nsengimana (Rwa) Bosco Stradalli – Bike Aid
4. Valens Ndayisenga (Rwa) Dimension Data For Qhubeka 0:02
5. Temesgen Buru (Eth) Mebrahtu Ethiopia National Team 0:06
6. Tesfom Okubamariam (Eri) Eritrea National Team 0:07
7. Fayard Fournet (Fra) Sébastien Haute-Savoie/Rhone-Alpes 0:08
8. Kibrom Giday (Eth) Hailay Ethiopia National Team 0:09
9. Justin Paroz (Sui) Meubles Descartes Prodis 0:12
10. Metkel Eyob (Eri) Dimension Data For Qhubeka

71. Cameron McPhaden (Can) Team Lowestrates.ca 14:05
72. Stephen Keeping (Can) Team Lowestrates.ca 14:07





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