12 African teams at 20th Tour du Faso

The Tour du Faso in Burkina Faso, Africa, will celebrate the 20th year of its existence soon. Scheduled from October 25 to November 5, the stage race will see 12 African teams participate, which is a record. The last two years, two Burkinabès won the overall classification (Abdul Wahab Sawadogo and Jérémie Ouedraogo), but this could change in 2006. The Egyptian team, victorious in 1999, is making its come-back in Ouagadougou, and Cameroon as well as Angola are looking to making some progress on the final podium. Togo, Benin and Nigeria will assemble a mixed squad, as Zimbabwe will make its first appearance in the Tour.

Six European teams will be invited: Belgium will return as every year since 1996, and aim for the victory as the team has been on the podium several times already. Four French teams (Bretagne, Sarthe, Vélo Club de Roubaix and Yvelines) are also hoping for good results and maybe more than a stage win, the declared goal of Japan, who sends a team to the African event for the first time.

The enrolled teams in short: Angola, Belgium, Bretagne, Burkina Faso A, Burkina Faso B, Burkina Faso C, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabun, Japan, Mali, Sarthe, Senegal, Vélo Club de Roubaix, Yvelines, Zimbabwe, Benin-Niger-Togo.