By TesfaNews,
ERITREAN rider Merhawi Kudus from team MTN-Qhubeka today won the under 23 Individual Time Trial race of the Confederation of African Cycling Road Championships.
Merhawi posted the fastest time of the day before sweeping his second Gold medal in the championship. Rwandan Valens Ndayisenga and Adil Barbari of Algeria took their respective silver and bronze medal.
Now shifting his focus to the decisive Saturday’s road race, the indomitable Merhawi said the race simply turned out fine for him.
“I am happy with my ride today. This is my 2nd gold medal of the championships and I didn’t expect the top step but I am happy with how the race turned out for me. My time trial has not always been my strong point but I am improving and this will give me some confidence for Saturday.”
Meanwhile, in the Elite Men’s ITT race, Ethiopian national champion Tsgabu Grmay becomes hard to beat. He finished the 48km time trial in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 5 seconds to claim Gold.
Grmay says, “It was a great race for me today and everything went perfect. I was confident that I could do well.”
“My dream is to do the Tour de France, so I believe I’m on the [right] way … I’m just working hard every day,” adds happy Tsgabu for winning his country’s first ever Gold in the history of the Championship.
Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot and South African Reinvan Rensburg, however, runs for Silver and Bronze respectively.
In elite Women’s race, Eritrea’s Yohana Dawit finished 4th while Mosana Debesay 7th. South African Women’s team still dominates the race with 7 Gold medals.
This year, Eritrea is being represented by Daniel Teklehaimanot, Merhawi Kudus, Natnael Berhane and Mekseb Debesay in the Men’s group and Wahazit Kidane, Mosana Debesay, Tsehainesh Fitsum and Yohana Dawit in the Women’s group.
South Africa hosts this year’s Confederation of African Cycling Road Championships for the first time. The event has already attracted a host of competitors from 30 different African nations.
Valuable Olympic qualification points are also up for grabs during this race. Now all eyes are on Saturday’s road race.
More medals for @TeamMTNQhubeka riders at today's #CACRoadChamps Gold for @MeraKudus More: http://t.co/W8nIqwo21w pic.twitter.com/R07QqR0b8G
— Ride Magazine SA (@RideMagazineSA) February 11, 2015
