Eritrean Mekseb Debesay of the German team Bike Aid-Ride For Help won the first stage of the Tour du Rwanda on Monday in Kibungo. He beat three other Eritreans in a sprint finish including Aron Debretsion from the AS.BE.CO Cycling Team, and Elyas Afewerki and Haile Dawit, both from team Eritrea.
"I didn’t know what tactics to adopt in the final," said Debesay, "I finally chose the option of sprint because I saw that my compatriots were preparing for the arrival. It is a great happiness [to win today]."
The Rwandan Janvier Hadi retains the yellow jersey before the first mountain stage on Tuesday and his team Rwanda Karisimbi is dominates the top five places in the overall classification.
Brief Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Bike Aid-Ride for Help | 2:26:37 |
| 2 | Aron Debretsion (Eri) AS.BE.CO Cycling Team | |
| 3 | Elyas Afewerki (Eri) Eritrea | |
| 4 | Haile Dawit (Eri) Eritrea | |
| 5 | Temesgen Buru (Eth) Ethiopia | |
| 6 | Bonaventure Uwizeyiamana (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | |
| 7 | Dirk Nel (Rsa) South Africa | |
| 8 | Lahcen Saber (Mar) Maroc | |
| 9 | Bereket Yemane (Eri) Eritrea | |
| 10 | Yohannes Welderfiel (Eri) AS.BE.CO Cycling Team | |
General classification after stage 1
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Janvier Hadi (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | 2:30:41 |
| 2 | Valens Ndayisenga (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Jean-Bosco Nsengimana (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | 0:00:03 |
| 4 | Bonaventure Uwizeyimana (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | 0:00:04 |
| 5 | Joseph Biziyaremye (Rwa) Rwanda Karisimbi | 0:00:07 |
| 6 | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Bike Aid - Ride For Help | |
| 7 | Temesgen Buru (Eth) Ethiopia | 0:00:12 |
| 8 | Elyas Afewerki (Eri) Eritrea | 0:00:13 |
| 9 | Amanuel Ghebreizgabhier (Eri) AS.BE.CO Cycling Team | |
| 10 | Aron Debretsion (Eri) AS.BE.CO Cycling Team | |
