Peter Blackmore Makes History as the First Englishman to Win Tour du Rwanda
Englishman Peter Joseph Blackmore, aged 21, riding for the Israel Premier Tech Team, has won the 2024 Tour du Rwanda on its 16th edition. He is the 14th foreign cyclist to win since 2009.This was concluded after the last stage, Stage 6, on Saturday in front of the Kigali Convention Centre today.
This Sunday, February 25th, Stage 7 will take place as the last stage of this year’s competition, starting at the Kigali Convention Centre and ending at a place yet to be determined, according to the Sports Minister, Munyangaju Aurore Mimosa.
It was a tough competition among cyclists, but notably the Israel Premier-Tech Team had Joe Blackmore, who had been wearing the Yellow Jersey, indicating the team’s strong performance.
As they approached the finish line, the cyclists pushed hard to overtake each other, but the team managed to stay ahead, although struggling.
CMC’s Grmay has moved up in the rankings to take the lead and is now poised to lead the race, with new hopes to finish strong. Rwandans Byukusenge Patrick and Niyonkuru Samuel have left the team, making way for Simon Julien, Torres, and Dillon Geary who were initially behind but have caught up.
As they neared the Mont Kigali Summit, they headed towards Nyamirambo, passing through Kimisagara, Dostiyev (second on the overall standings), Lecerf (second on the overall standings), and Gomez, before regrouping and moving ahead, although they were not fully separated.
They will head towards Mutwe, where Joe Blackmore, who was wearing the Yellow Jersey, will begin to overtake others, followed by Restrepo Valencia, but this last stage will see him finish behind Lecerf.
Blackmore continued to lead the race and maintained a lead of 30 seconds until he arrived at the KCC, where he was greeted with applause before the British National Anthem “God Save the King” was played.
On Monday, Peter Blackmore finished in first place, using a time of 47 minutes and 37 seconds, beating Pierre Latour of TotalEnergies, Dostiyev, Lecerf, Restrepo, Rolland, and Doubey.
Mugisha Moise of Java-InovoTec finished in 12th place with a time of 46 minutes, while Eric Manizabayo of Team Rwanda finished 17th with a time of 53 minutes.
