Soudal Quick-Step skips Tour du Rwanda due to conflict in border region with DRC
Belgian cycling team Soudal Quick-Step has cancelled its participation in the Tour du Rwanda because of the conflict in the border region with Congo, reported newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. Another Belgian team, the Lotto Cycling Team, is currently still on the participants list but is following up the situation closely.
The 17th edition of the Tour du Rwanda is scheduled to take place from 23 February to 2 March. On Thursday, the organisers confirmed that the race will go ahead despite the armed clashes between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in eastern Congo, just across the border with Rwanda. The route will also not be changed: the third stage ends in Rubavu, where the fourth stage also starts. That town is located barely a dozen kilometres from Goma, the epicentre of the conflict.
“It’s unfortunate for our development team, which has to miss a great race, but sometimes there are more important things than racing"
Soudal Quick-Step, which was to take part with a mix of riders from its development team and its WorldTour team, has today decided to not travel to Rwanda. The fact that the race passes so close to the conflict zone was the decisive factor.
“It’s unfortunate for our development team, which has to miss a great race, but sometimes there are more important things than racing,” said the team’s CEO Jurgen Foré to Het Nieuwsblad. “Stages three and four arrive a stone's throw from where the rebels are, it’s maybe 50 km away,” added Kevin Hulsmans, team leader of the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team. “The riders not only have to race there but also spend the night. I question that.”
The Belgian Lotto team currently remains on the participants list with a mixed team of pros and young talents. “We are keeping an eye on the situation,” said technical director Kurt Van de Wouwer. “Obviously safety is the most important thing. For now, we are not getting signals from either the UCI or elsewhere that that is compromised.”
The cycling world is closely following the developments in Rwanda. Later this year, the country is also due to become the setting for the first world cycling championship on African soil. Last week, despite the unrest, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced it had no plans “for the time being” to look for an alternative to that world championship in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
#FlandersNewsService | Riders during the Tour du Rwanda in Kigali in 2024 © BELGA PHOTO Guillem Sartorio / AFP
Related news
