Burkinabe wins 2nd ECOWAS Cycling Tour

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Burkina Faso's Rasmane Quadraogo has emerged the winner of the 2nd ECOWAS International Cycling Tour, which rounded off in Abidjan, the Ivorian commercial capital, on Sunday.

With a total of 104 points, the 24-year-old Burkinabe won the four-stage race that started in Nigeria's economic capital of Lagos.

Quadraogo told journalists after the race that covered five countries that he owed his victory to God and the support of his country.

''The country invested so much in me. I have been in Switzerland training not just for this event but other competition. For us in Burkina Faso, cycling is like a religion,’’ he said.

Burkinabes Seydou Bamogo and Oumarou Minoungou were second and third respectively.

Bamogo, winner of the Lagos-Cotonou first stage, won a total of 94 points, while Minougou got 86 points.

In the general classification, Burkina Faso also finished tops, followed by Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal in that order. Ghana and Mali were placed fourth and fifth while Nigeria was sixth.

Over 66 cyclists started the 450-kilometre race but only 49 completed it, as some were disqualified and others pulled out for various reasons, including illness.
-0- PANA TN/SEG 20Feb2012