Pô, The cycling Stallions of Burkina Faso Paul Daumont (yellow and green jersey) and Mohamadi Ilboudo (hot spots jersey) seized the 3 most coveted jerseys of the International Tour of Faso on Friday. At the end of the first stage run between Ouagadougou and Pô (144km), we noted.
It was a fierce battle on this first online stage between the Burkinabè, Belgian and Moroccan favorites with the best tunics. And it is the Burkinabè who took charge from the start given in Ouagadougou by members of the government.
The first intermediate sprint from Kombissiri at kilometer 40 was won by Mohamadi Ilboudo from the Central Regional Team (ERC) of Burkina Faso, while the 2nd hot spot was the work of Paul Daumont from the A team.
These two victories on the circuit and especially the involvement of Daumont’s teammates, motivated the cycling Stallions to seek the yellow jersey. Salifou Yerbanga and Souleymane Koné did an enormous job to prepare for the Daumont sprint.
A few 300m from the finish the rollers gave way to the sprinters. The Moroccan Sabbahi El Houcaine, the Burkinabè Paul Daumont and the Belgian Wouters Rutger advanced to the forefront to play the leading roles.
The Moroccan launches his sprint very early about 100m from the finish line while Daumont and the Belgian Wouters observe each other. At the last moment, a furious pedal stroke from the Burkinabè national champion drops the two competitors in his wheels, to seek the stage victory.
He completes the 144km in 3h38mn35sec, or an average speed of 39.527km/h. At the same time, he wears the yellow jersey for the time classification and the green one for the points classification. His teammate Mohamadi Ilboudo won the pink jersey for the intermediate sprints.
The Burkinabè have announced their colors in this competition and the retention of the yellow jersey promises to be tough in the next stages. The 2nd stage will be run on Saturday between Nioryida and Ziniaré, 107.2km long.
71 riders from 13 teams (11 countries) took the start for this first stage. Algeria, which had nevertheless arrived on Burkinabe soil, finally gave up the competition while Rwanda, which had given its agreement, did not arrive.
The 34th International Tour of Faso takes place from October 26 to November 5 with 1207,800km to cover in 10 stages. It was the absent German Daniel Bichlmann who won the 33rd edition of the Tour du Faso in 2021.
Source: Burkina Information Agency