Ninety riders, representing twenty countries (with ten from Africa), will be on the starting line of the 19th Tropicale Amissa Bongo international cycling race that kicks-off in Bongoville, Gabon on Monday, 20 January 2019 at midday. For seven straight days, the cyclists will cover seven laps estimated at 998 kilometres.

This year’s race, organisers say, will be the most spiced-ever since its debut in 2006. Not only will the peloton visit the two extreme ends of Gabon, it will also pass through two neighbouring countries- Cameroon, with Equatorial Guinea being the novelty.

The riders, notably Cameroon’s SNH Vélo Club captain, Clovis Kamzong Abossolo; Isiaka Cissé and Joseph Areruya, respectively 2018 winners of Tour de Côte d’Ivoire and Tropicale Amissa Bongo; will equally discover new roads, with the longest measuring 170Km (Franceville - Okondja). The winner of the first-three laps, International Union Cyclists (UCI) experts predict, will succeed last year’s yellow jersey winner, Joseph Areruya of Rwandan nationality.