They step off the Rwanda national team bus, Patrick Byukusenge and Shadrack Ufitimana, one a seasoned veteran and the other a young rider in his first year beyond the junior category, still riding high from the emotion of competing at the Kigali World Championships.

Byukusenge, with his record number of editions raced at the Tour du Rwanda, with his cycling pedigree, can serve as the living memory of the race and willingly takes on the role of valuable advisor to a young rider like Shadrack: "I have fed myself on the stories. From those who raced here in the (pioneering, ed.) early years, earning myself important satisfactions such as two stage second-place finishes—one in my Musanze in 2015 and 2016, plus the double fifth-place finish I have in the general classification," explains the 34-year-old father of two children, to whom he will not impose the cycling lifestyle, even though... Byukusenge, national champion in 2023, won at the beginning of 2026 the race around the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, riding a bike far removed from the models of the early days, on the volcanic earth of Musanze, where the national cycling center is based. Patrick does not rule out creating his own academy or collaborating on the development of youth cycling in the country: "I believe the growth of races in the youth calendar has been fundamental, thanks to which young riders like Shadrack have found their opportunity".

Born in 2006 and from Rwamagana, in the eastern provinces, Ufitimana first attended the cycling school created in his city by Adrien Niyonshuti, a former World Tour professional with Dimension Data. "Finding myself here with my peers from the Development teams of the world's best teams is an incredible boost, the rest is driven by the passion that surrounds us".

Returning to Byukusenge, we find him at the finish of the fourth stage that ended in Rubavu: and he deserves all the compliments for having been part of the long-range breakaway from which Kretshky's number was born.