A race with a prologue and seven stages, but also a sort of preview of next year's World Championships. The Tour du Rwanda, which was presented on Friday at the Delight Hotel in Kigali, and will take place from February 23 to March 2, 2025, will be in its seventeenth edition and aims to be all of this. This was understood from the first moments of the presentation when Freddy Kamuzinzi, general director of the organization, declared: "Next year's edition will be an extraordinary Tour du Rwanda. Indeed, this race, a symbol of excellence for Rwanda, will pave the way for an electrifying cycling season in Africa and the World".

The challenge will begin, as mentioned, on Sunday, February 23, with a time trial prologue that will challenge athletes on a four-kilometer route starting and finishing inside the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali. The first stage, which will be run the following day from Rukomo to Kayonza, will retrace the route of the stage won this year by Itamar Einhorn: 158 kilometers are planned with over 2000 meters of elevation gain.

On Tuesday, February 25, the caravan will depart from Kigali towards Muzanze, where athletes will have to face a local circuit before completing the 121 kilometers planned and competing for the victory of the second stage. Muzanze will also be the starting point for the next stage, which will conclude in Rubavu, where in the 2024 edition, young William Junior Lecerf won and Giacomo Villa narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth.

On Thursday, February 27, the organizers have scheduled the fourth stage, which will cover a distance of 97 kilometers and will take the group from Rubavu to Karongi with an elevation gain of 2101 meters. Even more challenging will be the fifth stage, a line stage that offers 3742 meters of elevation to be overcome in the 143 kilometers between Rusizi and Huye. In this case too, the route has been traced in the opposite direction compared to the stage won this year by Jhonatan Restrepo.

The penultimate stage of the Tour du Rwanda will start from Kyanza and conclude at Kigali Canal Olympia, but the grand finale will be on Sunday, March 2. The Kigali – Kigali 73-kilometer stage will be the decisive stage that will crown the race winner, but also the day when athletes can ride on the circuit that will host the world championship challenge in September.

In addition to the route, some of the participating teams have been revealed. At the start, we will see: the Israel Premier Tech of the current champion Joseph Blackmore, TotalEnergies, UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, the development team of Soudal Quick Step, along with the Development teams of Lotto Dstny, DSM Firmenich, and the Representative teams of Rwanda, Angola, South Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the World Cycling Center Team.

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