Sam Coleman, the Irish teenager riding his first season with Israel Premier Tech Academy, has gotten his 2025 campaign off to a very strong start at Tour du Rwanda.
Coleman (19), who was one of the leading Irish juniors last year and a regular on the national team, was competing in his first race as an U23-elite rider today and showed no signs of any nerves.
He took to the start line of the pan flat 3.4km prologue in Kigali as the only Irish rider among the 69-rider start list.
Looking for the first indication of his form having come out of the winter months, Coleman will be reassured by his 11th place on the stage.
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He finished some 9.99 seconds behind stage winner, and now race leader, Aldo Taillieu, a Belgian junior international last year now riding for Lotto Development Team.
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Coleman, from Hamiltonsbawn in Co Armagh, got off to a similarly very strong start last season when he won the 96.5km Mapei Classic in France and then went on to claim the opening stage and the overall at Route d’Éole, also in France.
In Rwanda Coleman's team mate, 23-year-old Australian Brady Gilmore, finished 10th today, making for a strong start for the team. And now the Irish rider has set himself up for a good tilt at the general classification in the eight-stage race.
The action continues tomorrow with 157.8km of racing from Rukomo to Kayonza, with 1,800m of climbing, including a kicker to the finish line.
