At the scene of Tadej Pogačar and Magdeleine Vallieres’ respective solo victories at the 2025 Kigali World Championships, NSN development team’s German Moritz Kretschy lifted his hands to win the 2026 Tour du Rwanda on Sunday.
In truth, the Spanish-registered team dominated the race, taking three stage wins in addition to the overall title through Itamar Einhorn (two) and Pau Marti. However, there were several intriguing storylines to follow during the week and a host of young African riders who announced themselves to the world.
Dan Challis
We recapped the first half of the eight-day race last week with special insight from riders and sports directors in Rwanda, with Kretschy taking a decisive lead on the fourth stage following a day in which the breakaway flipped the race upside-down. Here’s a summary of what happened on stages 5-8:
- Stage 5: Probably the easiest stage of the week, with a criterium style circuit around the city of Rubavu. Young German Jermaine Zemke (REMBE rad-net) upset the sprinters with a daring late attack to take his first professional win.
- Stage 6: Two long climbs characterised this stage, but they weren’t steep enough to make any difference in the GC. It was another sprint and Einhorn took his second stage of the week.
- Stage 7: The last day to make real GC inroads with a final 5km climb which included the famous Mur de Kigali sandwiched in the middle. The race split up on the concluding ascent and the Soudal-Quick Step devo team's Brazilian youngster Henrique Bravo unleashed an impressive acceleration to win the stage. There were some small changes on GC, with Bravo moving up to 6th and young Ethiopian Amaniel Desta (Amani) losing his podium position to Duarte Marivoet (Lotto-Groupe Wanty).
- Stage 8: The final stage saw a repeat of the 2025 World Championships circuit, but the riders would complete the loop only twice, rather than 17 times. Attacks flew, but once again it came down to a sort of sprint and Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea) overhauled Mauro Cuylits (Lotto-Groupe Wanty) just before the line following the tough Côte de Kimihurura.
Aside from the racing, several storylines emerged from the race, including whether it's ready for a higher profile after a horrible tragedy killed two spectators on the opening stage, and the continuing evolution of African riders.
After tragedy, is Rwanda really ready to host WorldTour racing?
After the opening stage, race organisers released a statement announcing that two spectators had been killed and several more injured after a race vehicle veered off the road in the Gabiro area. The vehicle had been part of the convoy travelling ahead of the race. Riders and team staff have confirmed that they had no knowledge of the incident during the race, and found out the news through the released statement.
Dan Challis
One of the victims has been identified as Étienne Ndagigimana, a father in his 30s, while another was a young girl, according to a report on the Team Africa Rising website written by an unnamed Rwandan journalist. Police investigations are ongoing, but the Rwandan reporter has collected eyewitness accounts which suggest that the driver appeared to be intoxicated and was arrested at the scene.
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