A tiny little NC-race for mixed nations from Africa, facing a 170km hilly parcours.
Three nationas - Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia - will be at the startlist and Kenya will be the biggest group with 6 riders (of which 5 ride for Kenya Airways).
Kenya
Rwanda
Mwangi Samwel (Vesuvio)
Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN - WBR)
Zakayo Ndbri (Kenya Airways)
Rafiki Uwimana (MTN - WBR)
Daniel Njorogoe (Kenya Airways)
Joseph Biziyaremye (Aker - MOT)
Suleiman Kangangi (Kenya Airways)
Janvier Hadi (Jaguar - Eritel)
Hillary Kiprotich (Kenya Airways)
Mujtaba Hussein (Kenya Airways)
Ethiopia
Tsgabu G. Grmay (PFG-Armavia)
Estifanos Kebede (Repsol-Cativen)
With Kenya Airways having six of twelve riders at the start, the biggest question would be if they manage to get a rider in the break or not:
Uwimana (Rwanda/MTN)
Hadi (Rwanda/Jaguar)
Njoroge (Kenya/Kenya Airways)
are the 3 riders to build this break and so, yes, today's strongest team (in terms of man-power) features a rider in there!
The two Ethiopian though did not manage (or try) to escape.
Business as usual: the "bunch" wouldn't even try to chase and so it's up to the three leaders to write the story of this race.
Good news for the Kenyan rider, but at least we have a battle for Rwanda's title: Hadi soloes away from the leading group with 8km to go, establishing a 2-minutes-gap quickly!
And he attacked right in time to grab the national road title! Top-favorite Niyonshuti (MTN) actually attacked the bunch, too. But far too late to close the gap (12 minutes eventually).
Almost five minutes later, Njoroge grabs the Kenyan title as well.
15 minutes later, the two Ethiopian riders Grmay (PFG) and Kebede (Repsol) sprint for their nation's line honours and Grmay takes it.
Road titles/
Janvier Hadi (Jaguar - Eritel) Daniel Njoroge (Kenya Airways) Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (PFG-Armavia)
Up for the 40km flat ITT.. will the big names fight back from the horrible road race?
Ethiopia/ Another close decision between the two participants, but this time it's Kebede (Repsol) with the better end, beating Grmay by 10" for the TT-title!
Rwanda/ And now for today's most thrilling battle: road-winner Hadi (Jaguar) gives Biziyaremye (Aker) a tough time here and two cross the split with exactely the same time! Who will take the title?
It's Joseph Biziyaremye in a ridiculous close decision: the Aker-MOT professional beats Hadi by only 2 seconds to grab the title!
Kenya/ Way less problems for Mujtaba Hussein (Kenya) in the Kenyan competition. He beats teammate Ndbri by 1'45" for an easy win against the clock!
Kenya
Rwanda
Ethiopia
