TOUR DU FASO : STAGE 7 – MOCHINE EL KOURAJI OF MORROCCO HANGS-ON TO THE LEADER’S JERSEY

Story By: Elizabeth Alhassan (Ouagadougou)

The ongoing Tour Du Faso entered it’s seventh stage with yet another blistering criterium showcasing skills and strength in the economic capital of Bobo -Dioulasso

The Atlas Lions of Morroco headed by Yellow jersey holder and Sprinter Mochine El Kouraji showed pure power in the 107 km circuit assignment encompassing 10 laps in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso.

Burkina Faso’s Sports Minister Roland Somda flagged the race into action and quickly initiated the circuit into active business in attacks.

The 59 riders who signed up for the race had clear intentions for mounting the podium and by the first lap the road had began boiling with series of breakaways especially from the Burkinabes and Cameroonian riders.

Within the remaining 7 laps, all attention was centered on the first breakaway group comprising one Burkinabe and a Cameroonian. The quartet breakaway group controlled affairs until the 3rd lap where matters changed.

The main bunch was even busier with series of echelionic attacks on the left side of the road in an effort to catch up with Bouda Wahabou and the second breakaway group comprising two Burkina Faso attackers, a Camerounian, a Malian and one Beninios.

In the last 3 laps, the signals were crystal clear that the winner would emerge from the host nation. Bouda Wahabou still maintained focus and singlehandedly dictated the bunch behind him with an approximate time difference of 2mins.

With 4 laps to finish, the peloton was chasing breakaway rider Bouda Wahabou of BurkinaFaso but could not catch up with him till he came to the finish line in a destined job with a classical finish.
The criterium rounded up a distance of 107km over 10 laps and recorded an average speed of 39.455/hr.

Meanwhile, in the Under 23 category, Adil El Arbaoui of Morrocco still maintained his position and griped on the Green Jersey holder.

The intermediate sprints jersey went to Mamyr Stash from Russia with the Combativity jersey going to Steve Auriol from Cameroon.

Both Ghana’s Emmanuell Sesi and Francis Owusu gave a good account of themselves in this particular stage that gave glimpses improving on their performances in a future race.

Kyei Manu

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