With two category one climbs and the majority of the day at 1,700 metres and higher in elevation, stage 4 of the Tour of Rwanda promised to be a decisive day in the battle for the overall. And so it proved after 120 kilometres of hard-fought racing to force the first significant reshuffle of the general classification.
In Nyamata, it was Dimension Data for Qhubeka coming up trumps with its third stage win and the second stint in the yellow jersey. It was a collective aggressive showing by the Rwandan teams assisted the South African squad to end Simon Pellaud's reign in yellow.
The last two overall winners, Valens Ndayisenga and Jean Bosco Nsengimana were billed as the pre-race favourites but it is their younger companion Joseph Areruya who now firms as the rider to beat. With plenty of racing still to come, Ndayisenga's 2:50-minute deficit and Nsengimana's 1:44 time gap to Areruya are not insurmountable. Although the 21-year-old has proven himself as the strong rider in the race thus far, he admits it will be a difficult task to hold on for the win.
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"Now we have the yellow jersey but we have a big job as we can't take it easy tomorrow. We have riders behind me who want the yellow jersey. That is why we have to work hard," Areruya said.
Areruya now leads teammate and stage 4 winner Metkel Eyob by 38 seconds with Kenyan Suleiman Kangangi (Bike Aid) third at 1:16 minutes. For Dimension Data for Qhubeka sports director Andrew Smith, the only thing that went wrong on stage 4 was the team car breaking down, forcing a change of vehicle, before the first climb of the day. With the yellow jersey back in the team, Smith et al will be hoping future problems are also car and not bike related.
"I think the next few days really suit us and Joseph is really strong on the short steep climbs. Who knows? Maybe we can do something special after this as well," Smith said.
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