Joseph Blackmore (Israel Premier Tech Academy) secured the final stage 8 at the Tour du Rwanda, netting himself the overall victory in Kigali.
Blackmore launched an attack in the final kilometres and then soloed to the stage win by 30 seconds ahead of the time trial stage winner Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Ilkhan Dostiyev (Astana Qazaqstan Development Team).
Blackmore won the overall race by 41 seconds ahead of Dostiyev and 43 seconds ahead of Jhonatan Restrepo (Team Polti Kometa).
“Winning in yellow is amazing,” Blackmore said. “It means a lot. First race for Israel – Premier Tech. I did this race last year, sixth on GC, and to come back a year later and win is great. It’s special. To achieve such a victory at the age of 21 is huge for me.”
Stage 8 was a short 73.6km route that started and finished at Kigali. The stage included a hors category ascent of Mont Kigali and finished on an uphill in Kigali. The route incorporated parts of the UCI Road World Championships set to be held next year in Rwanda.
A four-rider breakaway emerged during the race that included Julien Simon (Total Energies, Milan Donie (Lotto Dstny), Pablo Torres (UAE Gen Z) and Dillon Geary (South Africa), but the race came back together over Mont Kigali.
Blackmore used the cobbled climb of the Mur de Kigali, with around 8.5 kilometres remaining, to launch his stage-winning move.
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