Rwandan professional rider Mugisha Samuel who has been stranded in his home country during the COVID-19 lockdown due to international travel restrictions is set to travel to France Saturday, where he will be linking up with his new side Team LMP – La Roche Sur Yon, a source revealed Thursday.
Mugisha, 22, signed a one-year deal with LMP late in 2019 and was initially due to join the team after this year’s Tour du Rwanda in March but his travel was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic that globally disrupted international travel.
The rider is expected to make his debut for the French second division side on August 8.
Mugisha became the youngest ever rider to win Tour du Rwanda in 2016 and a fourth Rwandan rider to win the highly coveted crown – making it five consecutive victories by a Rwandan cyclist since 2014.
Prior to signing with the French side, Mugisha played for South African based Dimension Data for Qhubeka between 2017 and 2018.
Rwandan officials announced earlier this month that Kigali International Airport will reopen for scheduled commercial flight operations at the start of August.
In March, Rwanda suspended all incoming and outgoing commercial passenger flights, only allowing cargo and emergency planes to operate, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CU/as/APA