Henok Mulubrhan has won the third stage of the Tour du Rwanda, a stage in which there was a lot of climbing. The Belgian William Junior Lecerf ( Soudal Quick-Step Development) finished second, the Ukrainian Anatoliy Budyak was third. Mulubrhan is also the new leader.
The first stages of the Tour du Rwanda ended in a sprint and were won by Ethan Vernon , but on day three it was up to the climbers. In the second part of the 199.5 kilometer long ride, the necessary hills had to be conquered, including the climb to Kiviruga (7.1 km at 6.5%). From the top it was still about 25 kilometers to the line, but the last three kilometers also went up at almost six percent.
Gigantic lead
In the flat opening phase we saw a leading group of three gather a gigantic lead. Marc Oliver Pritzen (EF Education-NIPPO Development), Jean Bosco Nsengimana (Rwanda selection) and James Fouché ( Bolton Equities Black Spoke ) had already cycled together for ten (!) minutes after thirty kilometers and then even extended to twelve minutes. Despite Israel-Premier Tech having taken the initiative by now, the three started the first climbs of the day by that margin.
Nsengimana, the 2015 overall winner of the Tour du Rwanda, left his fellow refugees there. He was the first on top of some slopes, but would later be caught by Fouché and Pritzen. Then the home rider was left behind. There had also been a separation in the peloton. For example, classification leader Ethan Vernon had to release early. Carl Fredrik Hagen ( Q36.5 ) then had to retire after a crash.
Mulubrhan the strongest
The initially big lead of Fouché and Pritzen quickly diminished in the final, but the former managed to hold on for a long time. He started the final climb alone. The Australian was chased by a group of nine, including the Dutchman Pepijn Reinderink, the Belgian William Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step Development ) and the Eritrean Henok Mulubrhan (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
Mulubrhan, who has already achieved third and second place in recent days, proved to be the strongest of the select group on the final climb. After Fouché was caught, he sprinted with conviction to the stage victory. Lecerf and the Ukrainian Anatoliy Budyak (Terengganu Polygon) finished in second and third place, Reinderink was tenth.
Froome limits damage
Chris Froome , who was not in the chasing group at the foot, was able to limit the damage. The two-time Tour winner crossed the line in 34 seconds in 22nd place. He was thus the best rider of Israel-Premier Tech . After the third stage, Froome is twentieth in the general classification, 42 seconds behind Mulubrhan.
Source: Dehai Eritrea Online