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| Jani Tewelde Tour of Eritrea Stage 1 Winner |
By MTN - Qhubeka
Jani Tewelde won the first stage of the Tour of Eritrea on Wednesday 30 May for Team MTN-Qhubeka to take the lead in this UCI 2.2 rated race.
Jani Tewelde won the first stage of the Tour of Eritrea on Wednesday 30 May for Team MTN-Qhubeka to take the lead in this UCI 2.2 rated race.
Mekseb Debesay (Red Sea Camels) came in second and Yemane Bereket (Eritrean National Team) finished third. MTN-Qhubeka’s Tesfay Habtemariam finished in fourth place.
Last year’s race winner, MTN-Qhubeka rider Meron Russom, unfortunately ran into bad luck before the race even began as his bike did not arrive in Eritrea and he had to use an old bike that he still had in his home country. He managed to stay in the front of the peloton for the first part of the stage, but after numerous attacks fell back, eventually finishing in ninth place, 51 seconds behind the race winner.
His MTN-Qhubeka teammate Jacques Janse van Rensburg came in sixth place, while Calvin Beneke and Loto Petrus finished 10minutes behind the leader in a large group. All riders from 19th position back were listed as finishing 10minutes behind the leader.
The Tour of Eritrea has five stages with over 15 teams competing; including national teams from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon, Eritrea and Rwanda, as well as MTN-Qhubeka, comprised of professional cyclists from three different African nations.
Thursday’s Stage 2 of the tour comprises a 115km route from Massawa to Asmara including two climbs at the 55km and 99km marks.
MTN-Qhubeka Team Manager Kevin Campbell believes that the team will fare well on the mountainous terrain and notes that he hopes to see the team’s Eritrean riders, Russom, Tewelde and Habtemariam, take top honours in their home country.
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