Restrepo knows best: seventh overall victory for him at the Tour du Rwanda, the first wearing Polti Kometa jersey

In the same stage of the Tour du Rwanda, the third from Huye to Rusizi, where four years ago he achieved his first career victory, today Jhonatan Restrepo repeats himself: after raising his arms to the sky nine days ago at Tour Colombia wearing his National jersey, today in the heart of Africa he does it for the first time wearing Team Polti Kometa jersey!

Today’s 140 kilometers are the most challenging of the race, with 7 KOMs in the well-known heat and altitude conditions. The first 6 served to form a five-men breakaway and thin the peloton to 25 units; 30 km from the finish the leaders were caught, then the main group faced together the 3 km climb at 6% of Bumazi. In the subsequent descent, Lecerf from Soudal Devo tried to surprise everyone, but in the last kilometer his attack was closed and Restrepo was relentless in the reduced sprint. Third seasonal victory for Polti Kometa.

“The team did an exceptional job – comments the winner Restrepo right after the race – allowing me to stay calm in the pack until the crucial phases. In the finale, I received tremendous assistance from German Gomez to close down the Belgian in front of us and sprint at my best. I want to thank Polti, Kometa, Aurum, and all the sponsors; we are not satisfied and we want to win again!”

This is the story from sports director Biagio Conte: “A challenging day, where we had also to replace a wheel for Manuel Peñalver, who today was fantastic in pulling and handing out the bottles. On the last climb, Gomez, Javier Serrano and Andrea Garosio did well to stay together, while in the descent 3-4 riders fell including our Serrano. A lot of bad luck, repaid by Jhonatan’s success.”