Tour du Rwanda winner fined after forcing the organizers to cancel the final stage: "If we cancel this stage, there would be no more racing in Flanders"

The final stage of Tour du Rwanda was intended as a test of the circuit that will host the 2025 World Championships. However its main attraction - the Mt Kigali climb was removed from the course due to mud and, ultimately the already shortened stage was cancelled altogether. Race leader/winner Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) played a significant role in this.

"I appointed myself as the spokesman for the peloton," Doubey later justified his action to L'Équipe. "Many riders came to me so that I could present their demands to the organisation. We could no longer take any risks." As it turns out, not everyone was on the same wavelength as Doubey.

Henok Mulubrhan, second in the general classification, thought that the race should have continued. The Eritrean was furious afterwards. "It suited him that there was no result today," he said about Doubey. "If we had held this race in Europe, those few raindrops would never have stopped us."

Fourth man overall Milan Donie (Lotto) agreed with Mulubrhan. "If we cancel this stage, there would be no more racing in Flanders," said the Belgian, who was fourth in the general classification and also had a chance of winning the overall. "The wet and slippery road surface was no obstacle to racing."

Tour du Rwanda director Freddy Kamuzinzi also commented on the abrupt end of his race. "We did everything we could from the start to provide the riders with the necessary safety measures. We would never have let the riders take the slightest risk, as we did not let them do all week. Everything had gone well until the final day and all the teams congratulated us on the professionalism of our organization. But we did not know that a single rider could prevent the race from being finished."

The president of the jury was also not happy with Fabien Doubey's behavior. He decided to fine the Frenchman 200 Swiss francs for "inappropriate behavior that damages the image of cycling." According to information from L'Equipe, it may not stop there. Doubey will soon have to appear before the UCI disciplinary commission, which could impose much heavier penalties on him.