The seventh and final stage of the Tour du Rwanda has been cancelled due to bad weather with just over 13km left to race. Mud on the course initially caused a re-route of the stage, before it was eventually cancelled due to strong winds and thunderstorms.
"Due to unforeseen weather conditions causing slippery roads, the President of UCI jury has decided to halt the final stage of the Tour du Rwanda with one lap to go," the organisers confirmed on their social media platforms.
"The General Classification standings from the previous stage (Day 7) will determine the overall winner of the Tour du Rwanda."
Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) had been in the leader's yellow jersey after the previous day's stage 6, which Eritrea's Nahom Zeray won, and the Frenchman was crowned victor of the overall GC. It is a first stage race title for the 31-year-old.
He had been just six seconds ahead of 2023 overall winner Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana), with Oliver Mattheis (BIKE AID) a further five seconds back in third.
Stage 7 was a short, punchy 61.6km route starting and finishing in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, taking in three laps of a 15km circuit, and cut down from a planned 73km route.
The riders had just started the final lap when the peloton came to a halt and reportedly asked to stop the race due to bad weather.
At the time the peloton was just shy of three minutes behind a two-man leading group of Jacob Bush (Development Team Picnic PostNL) and Dawit Yemane (BIKE AID), with another four riders 17 seconds off the leaders.
