Jurgen Zomermaand loses leader's jersey in Tour du Rwanda, Mathijs De Clercq wins stage

The fourth stage of the Tour du Rwanda was won by Mathijs De Clercq. While the Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step Development took the stage victory, his German breakaway companion Moritz Kretschy took over the leader's jersey from Jurgen Zomermaand.

After Jurgen Zomermaand’s impressive double win in the third stage, the Tour du Rwanda continued today with an equally tricky route from Karongi to Rubavu. Along the way, there were five categorized climbs. The summit of the final challenge—the steep ascent to Rambo (3.3 km at 9.2%)—came about sixteen kilometers from the finish and seemed like the perfect launchpad for the stronger climbers in the peloton.

But the emphasis is on "seemed," as an early breakaway group of sixteen riders got away. This group included several notable names, such as Merhawi Kudus, Finlay Tarling (younger brother of INEOS rider Josh), Mathijs De Clercq, Mauro Cuylits, Jakob Busch, and Julian Borresch. A very dangerous break, yet the peloton allowed their gap to grow to around five minutes.

Zomermaand loses leader’s jersey
The escapees kept rotating well for a long time, but in the finale the break split apart. De Clercq joined forces with the German Moritz Kretschy, but the gaps between them weren’t too large—not even with the now completely fragmented peloton, where Zomermaand had to dig deep to save his race. The Dutchman eventually had to drop off and lost the yellow jersey.

The jersey went to Kretschy. He and De Clercq collaborated well in the final kilometers, keeping the favorites’ group well behind. De Clercq crossed the line first, ahead of Kretschy, who didn’t push for the win and was content to take the leader’s jersey. Behind the two leaders, De Clercq’s compatriot Cuylits (Lotto-Groupe Wanty) took third.