Steep Mont Kigali the protagonist on stage seven in Rwanda

The penultimate stage of this year’s Tour du Rwanda saw an attack filled start before the challenging finishing circuits split the bunch further with two steep ascents of Mont Kigali. Team Novo Nordisk worked hard to keep Peter Kusztor as close to the front as possible and efforts paid off with the former Hungarian national champion moving up from sixteenth to thirteenth in the general classification.

Sport Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“It was really explosive in the beginning today and nobody wanted to control the situation. We said beforehand we would try to get up the road if the chance came and it was David who was part of an early move that went on the first climb, but there was a regrouping and eventually things settled down. But not for long.”

“We tried to help Peter over the last laps and the guys did well to keep him as close to the front as possible. The day’s breakaway survived the two ascents up Mont Kigali followed by the yellow jersey group who came to the finish line in one’s and two’s.”

Peter Kusztor:

“Every day has been tough here in Rwanda and I could feel it in my legs today, but I started to feel better deeper into the stage. So, a little bit of optimism began to creep in, then we hit Mont Kigali. Twice.”

“The climb did its job in the final because it split the race up without losing any of the explosive nature of the end of the stage and to be honest, I’m quite happy to move into the top 15 overall because it was so tough. The boys were awesome again today, helping me a lot and always trying to bring and keep me at the front. One more day to go.”