A plan for J.Ouedraogo
Although the Burkina riders had prepared a secret plan in order to help Jérémie Ouedraogo (fourth at the start in Kombissiri only 2'' adrift) climb on the podium, the main goal looked almost “done and dusted”. Denis Flahaut, who still had the possibilty of claiming both the white and the green jerseys was rapidly put under control and had to settle with finishing the Tour with the three stages he had already won, but no jersey.

Cuylits still on the attack
Everything was however still possible concerning the final victory in Ouagadougou, which explained the fast pace at the start of the stage. And actually to achieve victory one was almost forced to take off early. After an unsuccessful attempt with 6 riders that only lasted a few kilometres, Leon Van Strien, Jean Ilboudo, Abdoulaye Sessouma and Gunter Cuylits broke away from the peloton. Caught up by Yann Baefcop and José Pires, as well as Abdoulaye Thiam, Ahmed Ouedraogo and Marcio Mucanza, the leading group made it to the final circuit with a 35'' lead and 10 laps to go.


25'' at the final bell
Things get harder as the laps go by and after the third passage on the line, only 8 men remain in the leading group but the lead on the peloton grows to 1'20''. The decisive move occurs with 5 laps to go. Marcio Mucanza and pink jersey Gunter Cuylits decide to take off while their former companions stop their efforts. As the final bell goes, 4,5 kilometres from the finish line, the two escapees only have a 25'' advantage. It however remains good enough to make it clear from the peloton on the line. In the last sprint battle of the event between both men, Angolan Mucanza clinches the win. Immediately after, the peloton finishes the race bunched which allows Saïdou Rouamba to keep his green jersey and Malick Thiam to bring the white jersey for best young rider back to Senegal.

A new birth for Africa

Great revolutions can sometimes start with little things that aren't really visible at first. Abdul Wahad Sawadogo's victory on the 2004 Tour of Faso, and generally speaking the level of the African teams these past two weeks, could well be the beginning of a new era of African cycling. On a results point of view, the progression is clear: the yellow jersey belongs to a Burkina rider and three other riders of the home country are within the top 10. Saïdou Rouamba, 9th overall wins the green jersey ahead of the excellent young sprinter Denis Flahaut.

Some however believe that the African “razzia” is only explained by the fact that the quality of the European teams present on the Tour, wasn't as good. The option decided by the organisers to level the race, in a fairer way than last year for example, proved to be excellent as far as oppositions go and on a purely sporting point of view. The numbers speak for themselves: A.Wahab Sawadogo rode the 1177 kms of the course at an average speed of 40,638 km/h. When it comes to compare, the average speed on the Tour de l'Avenir this year with hillier stages but not the same kind of heat was of 40,597 km /h. Difficult to compare one would say, but the speed just shows how the African riders have improved on a physical point of view, and Saïdou Rouamba, already a competitor back in 1989 knows what he's talking about: “the progress is huge. At the time we would ride at an average of 33 to 36 km/h, it's obvious that we're more competitive now”.

With Burkina Faso as the home land of the biggest stage race of Africa, it's only natural that its riders are the leaders of the sport, but the improvement doesn't only concern the Burkina cyclists. Jean-Marie Leblanc, who came to follow the last four stages of the event, is delighted with the progress and the evolution of his sport: “Compared to the previous editions, I find that the level has really improved, both on a physical and tactical aspect. Now, they know how to ride a team race, build a strategy, and all that was made possible by the opposition with European riders. And other than the Burkina riders, Angolans are also very competitive (2 stage wins) and Senegal has promising riders.” (white jersey for Malick Thiam).

But the question of the gap between the Africans and the European elite riders remains. For example, seeing an African rider competing in the Tour de France, considered as a fantasy a few years ago, is no longer that impossible. If one can only admit that they have riding qualities, it's difficult to tell what they would manage in the difficult climbs and how they would adapt to the European rhythm: “to now more about that, we will have to let more riders come regularly and for longer periods in the training camps of the French teams”, suggests race director Laurent Bezault. In Burkina, the enthusiasm is at its peak, especially for Sawadogo: “I believe that in 5 or 6 years, one or more Burkina riders could have their place in the Tour de France peloton”. Jean-Marie Leblanc, a little more patient still remains rather optimistic: “that could well happen in a dozen years”. We'll have to wait for the Tour 2014 for an answer.