Eritrea’s Daniel Teklehaimanot won stage 4 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2011

With this historic victory of an Eritrean runner, Daniel Teklehaimanot will be the first African ever to won a stage in the history of “Tropicale Amissa Bongo” race.          

Moreover, three cyclists from the Eritrean national cyclist team ranked in the first top 10 during the 5th stage of the Tour. Cyclists Daniel Teklehaimanot stood 6th, while Frekalsi Debesay 5th, Dawit Haile 10th,  and Natnael Berhane 14th in the race covering 149Km.

Europcar’s Charteau came in fourth, 24 seconds behind Teklehaimanot, to claim the leader’s jersey overnight following the stage from Ndjole to Lambarene.

 

The fourth stage of the race is run between Ndjolé and Lambaréné (133.4 km). This is a real mountain stage, at least early in the race. Blistering heat, the runners begin this demanding course with many bends and hairpins.

 

Organizations are under strain and a breakaway of six riders quickly took the reins of the race. No team wanted to go in pursuit, the gap is eight minutes. It is the yellow jersey Geoffrey Soup (JDF) in person who takes his responsibilities in mid-race and leads the pack at high speed in pursuit of fugitives. African teams, including those of Libya and Kenya, then join forces to lead the pack. Not a chance, go through the break.

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