Africa’s biggest race is halfway done for 2026, and the Tour du Rwanda has already seen some breakthrough performances, an enticing GC battle, beautiful scenery and, sadly, a fair share of tragedy too.
The Tour du Rwanda takes on extra significance this year as the first edition since Kigali hosted the first UCI Road World Championships to take place in Africa last year. Race organisers have told Escape/Global Peloton that they are exploring the possibility of upgrading the race in 2027 from its UCI 2.1 status, potentially all the way to the WorldTour.
The race began on Sunday, February 22nd, and runs for eight stages, finishing with a repeat of the Kigali Worlds circuit this coming Sunday.
Dan Challis
Below are four race diaries from riders and sports directors on the race, giving us their on the ground insight into one of the sport’s most intriguing events. We’ve got 2019 race winner Merhawi Kudus, young debutant Matteo Vanhuffel, ex-WorldTour rider-now DS Tsgabu Grmay and firstly Mauro Cuylits, who is following in his father’s footsteps in Rwanda.
First, here’s a recap of what’s happened so far:
- Stage 1 – One of the easier stages of the eight-day race. It was a big bunch sprint and Itamar Einhorn, racing for NSN’s development team, took his third-career Tour du Rwanda stage victory. The stage was also site of a tragedy, with the sad passing of two spectators and injuries to several others after a race vehicle veered off the road.
- Stage 2 – Another sprint, but with a tougher finish. NSN’s Pau Martí won ahead of Eritrea’s Henok Mulubrhan after the XDS-Astana rider hit a pothole with 50 metres to go. The Spaniard moved into yellow.
- Stage 3 – On paper, the toughest stage of the race, through the Nyungwe National Park. Picnic-PostNL’s development team dominated, with young Dutchman Jurgen Zomermaand winning solo and teammate Matteo Vanhuffel in third.
- Stage 4 – Another hard day. A strong break went up the road and Picnic failed to control it. The GC was thrown upside down. NSN’s Moritz Kretschy finished second behind Matthijs De Clercq of Soudal-Quick Step devo team and takes a commanding two-minute lead of the race.
Mauro Cuylits (Lotto-Groupe Wanty)
It's my second time here. Firstly I really wanted to do it because my dad did it a lot of years ago. He did a lot of races in Africa. He also died in Burkina Faso, in the last race he ever did. So I think I really wanted to do it. And this year the biggest reason I want to do it was because I want to have nice results and maybe win a stage.
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