Mayer wins African time-trial title in Kisumu, Kenya; Rwanda sweep the women's time trials

Alexandre Mayer of Mauritius won the elite men's individual time trial at the African Road Cycling Championships in Kisumu, Kenya, on 21 October in 40min 32.493sec. Eritrea's Merhawi Kudus took silver, 9.563sec behind, and Uganda's Charles Kagimu took bronze, 33.606sec down.

Rwandan riders won all three women's time trials on the same day: Diane Ingabire the elite race, Jazilla Mwamikazi the under-23 race and Yvonne Masengesho the junior race.

The Confederation of African Cycling (CAC) championships run in Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, until 25 October. Golazo Kenya is the event organiser.

Mayer averaged 45.287km/h. The men's elite course was 30.6km, three laps of a circuit, according to the Spanish magazine Ciclismo a Fondo. Mayer and Kudus ride for the same team, Burgos-Burpellet-BH. Kudus was second and Mayer fifth after the first lap, and after the second lap the two team-mates held the top two places.

"I am very happy to win today. I really didn't expect it," Mayer said, as quoted in Spanish by the Spanish cycling site Esciclismo. As African champion he can wear the champion's jersey in every individual time trial he rides in 2027.

Both men improved on their time-trial placings at the 2025 championships, where Mayer was third and Kudus sixth. Kagimu won the title in Eldoret, Kenya, in 2024, covering 33.6km in 41min 11sec, the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital reported on 9 October 2024. Mauritius's Aurélien de Comarmond finished fifth on 21 October, 1min 1sec behind Mayer.

Ingabire won the elite women's race in 31min 2.742sec, 1.546sec ahead of Mauritius's Aurélie Halbwachs, who is 40. South Africa's Lucy Young was third. Another Mauritian, Lucie Lagesse, abandoned after vomiting during the race.

In the under-23 women's race, Mwamikazi finished 27.779sec ahead of South Africa's Marzaan Mellett, who covered the 20.4km course in 31min 45.360sec. Ethiopia's Tsige Kahsay Kiros was third in 32min 3.991sec. Fifteen riders from 10 nations took part.

Masengesho covered the 10.2km junior women's course in 15min 37sec. Egypt's Joudy El Sayed was second in 15min 40sec and Ethiopia's Rahel Gimbato third.

In the other men's races, Tristan Hardy of Mauritius won the junior time trial, his second African junior title in a row, and Eritrea's Yafiet Mulugeta won the under-23 race. Mauritius ended the day with three medals, two of them gold.

The organiser's schedule has the mixed team relay and youth road races on 22 October and the junior road races on 23 October. The women's elite and under-23 road race is on 24 October, and the men's elite and under-23 road race closes the championships on 25 October.