MarathonMTB.com

The hub for marathon mountain biking

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Diaries
  • News
  • Reports
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Features
  • Nutrition
  • Team
    • Team Diaries
  • Consulting Services
  • Event Calendar
You are here: Home / News / Rwandan Epic doubles up in 2022

April 26, 2022 By Mike Blewitt Leave a Comment

Rwandan Epic doubles up in 2022

The Rwandan Epic recently ran in March, after two years of postponing and moving the first edition. Some of the winners including Karl Platt and Jean Eric Habimana have convinced the event team to not only move the event back to its original date in November, but also to add one more stage to race, to a total of 5 stages, including the prologue.

Rwanda is known to be a cycling crazy country, with the UCI 2.1 race Tour du Rwanda being one of the largest road cycling events on the African continent. Globally the country has been recognised, with the road world championships coming to the country of a thousand hills in 2025.

READ: Justin Morris races the Tour du Rwanda

Mountain biking is yet to achieve a similar status in the country and the Rwandan Epic team is set to change this. The first international edition of the race in March this year confirmed the potential of the country for mountain biking. The course showcased the trails, views and passionate spectators in Rwanda.

“We did notice that the original date of November is a better place in the calendar both in terms of weather conditions and travel opportunities for our international participants”, says Simon De Schutter, RaR Events Director. At an altitude of over 1500 meters and a location near the equator, Rwanda has 25 degrees Celsius year-round, but March to May is the heavy rainy season, something the March edition competitors can confirm.


Instead of waiting 20 months between two editions, a second edition in 2022 will be hosted from November 1st to 5th 2022, this time with an extra stage, bringing the total to 5.

A prologue in an urban environment in the capital city Kigali, marathon stages in the lake and volcanoes area and even an XCO stage on the volcanic rocks of the Virunga national park, offer the riders an exquisite view of this stunning country, which now 28 years after the genocide that tore it apart has found pride in being one of the cleanest and safest places not just in Africa but globally.

Although not a UCI event, the race does offer a prize purse of 7000 USD for the male, female and mixed categories and beyond that has an open category for solo riders and ebikes.

Part of each entry fee goes to covering the participation of local East African talent. As in the March edition, the race will try to team up experienced global riders with young local talent, in order to offer learning opportunities for those Rwandan, Kenyan and Ugandan riders with a passion for the sport.

Race entries start at 1250 euros per person and are for sale now on www.rwandanepic.com.

All photos: Naomi Cousins

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Africa, Bike, biking, MarathonMTB, mountain bike, MTB, rwanda, rwandan epic, Stage Race, XCM

About Mike Blewitt

Mike loves all things bike, but marathons definitely hold a special place in his heart. He's the co-founder of MarathonMTB.com. He's raced extensively throughout Europe, North America and Australia and has represented Australia twice at the UCI Marathon World Championships.

WELCOME TO MARATHONMTB.COM

We deliver the latest information from the world of endurance mountain biking. We hope we can help to inspire and inform your next mountain biking adventure.

Get the latest

Join hundreds of people receiving a weekly digest of endurance mountain biking content. Simply enter your email below.

MarathonMTB.com

RIDE

  • Event Calendar

ABOUT

  • About
  • Contact
  • Team
  • Team Diary

CONTENT

  • Diaries
  • Features
  • News
  • Nutrition
  • Photos
  • Reports
  • Tech
  • Video

LEGAL

  • Terms
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Follow

  • 12,750
  • 3,750
  • 13,500

    Copyright © 2023 XCM Management. All rights reserved.