Namibian trio take on Race Around Rwanda.
Namibian ultra-distance cyclists Drikus Coetzee, Pierre Lambert and Nabil Robiati were among the starting group of about 125 entries for the Race Around Rwanda early on Sunday morning.
The 998.6 kilometre route of the self-supported bike packing race that started in the capital Kigali will contain climbs of about 18,698 metres, and descents of approximately 18,705 metres.
Wet weather made for some muddy conditions on Sunday, which already caused an eventful first half a day in Rwanda’s “Land of a Thousand Hills”.
Coetzee held the lead early in the race, despite a crash into another bicycle that has left him with visible bruising on the right thigh. Guillaume de Spoelberch of Belgium and Bond Almand of the USA were among his rivals at the front.
Before the start, Jair Hoogland of Netherlands, Mariusz Cukierski of Poland, Samuelle Tonello of Italy and Rama Wieland of Australia were listed along with Coetzee as some of the most accomplished ultra-contenders.
While the front of the race arrived at the first control point in perfect weather conditions yesterday, the back got a huge rain storm disrupting their ride. Some “did not finish” results were unfortunately already registered, while others were finding local solutions to fix mechanical issues.
CP1 is about 40 km further up the course than last year, and organisers were already wondering if everyone would reach it before time cut. “We can't wait to hear everyone's stories though!” they stated on their social media.
Follow the live tracking for each rider at https://rar.legendstracking.com/
New team
Curve and Dream Factory Racing were thrilled to announce the arrival of Drikus Coetzee as a supported rider for the 2026 season in his pursuit of ultra-distance racing success! Drikus is lining up to race the 1000km Race Around Rwanda this weekend on his Big Kev V1.
The former elite triathlete shifted his full focus to cycling in 2017 and has since continued to push his boundaries including claiming six Namibian national time-trial championships, two Namibian national road race titles, as well as huge success in gravel events like The Munga and the Nedbank desert Dash, which he won a second time in 2925.
CurveCycling reported: “Drikus will now narrow that focus to ultra-distance events and will be taking on this year's 3,000 km unsupported gravel race from Namibia to South Africa, The Rhino Run.”
Curve welcomed Drikus and wished him good luck for an incredible 2026 race calendar which will be centred on the Race Around Rwanda, the Namibian national road cycling championship this coming weekend, the Race Across South Africa, The Rhino Run, The Munga MTB and the Nedbank Desert Dash.
