Chronicle Editor
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Cycling team which recently competed at the 19th African Cycling Confederation (CAC) Africa Road Championships in Accra, Ghana came out third best on the continent which saw them collect 150 Union Cycliste International (UCI) points.
It was a competition that saw Zimbabwe travel with 10 riders and three officials. The cycling meet featured a total of 19 countries that also included the hosts Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Namibia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Angola, Cape Verde, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Guinea, Egypt, Sao Tome and Principe and Ivory Coast.
Zimbabwe took part in the team time trial, individual time trial, mixed relay and road races. In the men elite (140km) category, Zimbabwe were represented by Andrew Chikwaka, Rodrick Shumba and Solomon Mugavazi.
The country had Helen Mitchell, Skye Davidson, Priscilla Mashamba and Elsie Mahumbe competing in the women’s elite (96km.) Lovemore Ntini and Nesta Charles featured in the Under-18 and Under-16 classes respectively.
At the event, Eritrea’s Henok Mulubrhan defended his men’s road race title while Nigeria’s Ese Upkeseraye won the women’s road competition.
Mulubrhan triumphed again in a sprint at the end of the 11-lap, 132-kilometre race after his success in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt last year.
He reportedly crossed the finishing line first in 3hrs 4min 27sec edging out Algeria’s Yacine Hamza in second and Morocco’s Achraf Ed Doghmy in third.
The victory added to Mulubrhan’s bronze in the men’s time trial and silver in the team time trial in Accra.
In the 72km eight-lap women’s road race, Upkeseraye prevailed in a sprint to triumph in 2:00:36.
Burkina Faso’s Ese Upkeseraye Awa Bamogo made the podium after finishing fourth in the individual and team time trial, earning silver in the road race. Bronze went to Mauritius’ Lucie de Marigny-Lagesse. Under-23 titles were also awarded in the road races. Byiza Uhiriwe Renus of Rwanda placed seventh in the men’s race to earn under-23 gold in 3:04.27, with silver going to Eritrea’s Aklilu Arefayne and bronze to Algeria’s Hamza Amari after they placed 10th and 15th respectively in the sprint.
There was a Rwandan one-two on the women’s Under-23 podium. Diane Ingabire just missed out on the senior podium in fourth, but claimed the under-23 title. Her compatriot Xaverine Nirere was sixth in the race, with her time of 2:00:42 earning silver. Algeria’s Nesrine Houili took Under-23 bronze with a 13th-place finish in 2:06:15.
Cycling Zimbabwe president, Davis Muhambi accompanied the Zimbabwean team to Ghana.
The competition, which was organised under the auspices of the UCI, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ghana Cycling Federation, the National Sports Authority and the Ghana Olympic Committee was part of the qualifiers for the upcoming Africa Games and 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Ghana is hosting the African Games in August this year. — @FungaiMuderere.
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