Top 10 GC finish for ProTouch
Whilst some of the European teams may have felt that they had lost out on the day, ProTouch are happy with their Top 10 finish as well as the way their young riders had grown over the last eight stages.
Sunday, 9 May marked the final stage of the 2021 Tour du Rwanda and the last chance for Honeydew-based ProTouch Continental Cycling to shake up the General Classifications (GC), which was bound to happen.
It was a short, fast 75,3km with six category 1 climbs, all consisting of cobbled sections. Just to make things tougher the riders experienced a torrential thunderstorm again, during the stage.
To finish the stage, it wouldn’t be the ‘toughest race in Africa’ if they didn’t include a Hors Catégorie (HC) climb, up to the finish.
A French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is ‘beyond categorisation’, the HC climb is the most difficult type of climb in a race.
ProTouch’s goal for the day was to get into a Top 10 position on GC, as well as put in a challenge for the best African riders jersey after starting the stage in second place for the best African rider.
A good move of five riders went clear early in the stage, and ProTouch rider Kent Main put himself into the move giving him a great chance to win the African competition as well as to move up on the GC.
“It’s on days like today, when your rider finds himself in a move with two B&B Hotel Team riders – one being Pierre Roland, who just happens to have won a stage in the Tour de France and, not just any stage, Alp D’Huez to be precise – that you understand the progress that is being made.
“The refusal to work on the front with Kent, because he was on GC, shows you that we are gaining the respect we deserve from the more experienced European teams,” said ProTouch Sports Director, Tony Harding.
The race came back together and on the final HC climb to the finish, the yellow jersey attacked and stayed away for another impressive victory.
Whilst some of the European teams may have felt that they had lost out on the day, ProTouch are happy with their Top 10 finish as well as the way their young riders had grown over the last eight stages.
ProTouch finished off the fourth Tour du Rwanda with:
• Top 10 – General Classification
• 2nd place and 8th place – Best African Jersey
• 10th Place – Best Young Rider Jersey
• Two Top 10 stages
• Eight Top 20 stages
• 13 Top 25 stages
