Thread by @tomowencc

The eight-day #TdRwanda22 started today with a 4km prologue. I'm really excited to see what kind of race we get this year. There are some familiar stages for 2022, the Mur de Kigali makes a welcome appearance (four times in total) and the start list is DEEP.

📸 @tour_du_Rwanda

The prologue (which I am thinking of as stage one) shuffled things up nicely, but I don't see any major ructions in the GC until stage three. A classic Rwanda stage, it packs 2,300m of climbing, almost all done at 1,700m+ above sea level where the air gets thin.

#TdRwanda22

The riders do more than 2,000m of climbing every day until the final stage next Sunday, by the way, when it's a 75km city centre kermesse with a mere 1,800m of ascent, seven pavé sectors of which three are ascents of the emblematic Mur de Kigali.

#TdRwanda22

With echoes of stage 3 in '21, stage four finishes at Gicumbi, but it's overall 50km shorter than last year's route. Alan Boileau of @BBHOTELS_KTM took one of his hat-trick of stages here a year ago and honestly, I think he might win again.

#TdRwanda22

Stages six and seven finish with sharp uphill climbs in Kigali itself, so expect mega crowds, but not too many mega time gaps. Of course, after a week of Rwandan roads there will be some riders on their last legs.

#TdRwanda22

As we already saw with the first stage, it is smack in the middle of rainy season in Rwanda. There is this lovely expression that 'the rain is blessing the race', but I think we the peloton might begin to appreciate that blessing less and less as the week drags on.

Onto the protagonists... we already have a race leader in the shape of Alex Geniez. His team Total Energies have the number one dossard, although 2021 champ Cristian Rodriguez is not here to defend his crown. Geniez is in fine form and has made the perfect start.

#TdRwanda22

Speaking of past champs, Natnael Tesfatsion makes a welcome return to East Africa's biggest race. He won the overall in 2020, but missed last year as he embarked on his first season as a European pro with Androni. He's one of just three Eritreans on the start list.

#TdRwanda22

Drone Hopper–Androni also bring Jhonatan Restrepo, who arguably should have won the overall last year. The team has bags of options and plenty of quality. I hope they do really well.

#TdRwanda22

The only WorldTeam in attendance is @IsraelPremTech, who have been supporting a local women's team @BugeseraC since the 2021 edition. The roster this season is a little weaker than the one that took James Piccoli to second overall in 2021, but they are still a WorldTour outfit.

Everybody's favourite Scandis, @TeamCoopSykkel, are there and I'm intrigued to see how the likes of Andreas Stokbro (born at 3m above sea) do on these brutally high climbs that frequently top 2,500m.

#TdRwanda22

2021 KOM Lennert Teugels is back with his Tarteletto squad, as is the aforementions Alan Boileau – although with just three B&B teammates (including the evergreen Pierre Rolland).

#TdRwanda22

In terms of home riders, Rwanda has a national squad here, four out of five of whom qualify for the young rider classement. This'll be a phenomenal experience for these developing talents, but expect to see them more in breakaways than the GC mixup.

#TdRwanda22

Rwanda-based Continental team Benediction Ignite bring a wealth of experience, by contrast, with Jean Bosco Nsengimana making his 11th #TdRwanda22 start. Arguably the best Rwandan rider, however, is on a South African team: @Protouch_Team

In Rwandan cycling, Mugisha Moise is often spoken of as the best athlete the country has ever produced. However, he skipped 2021 due to some off-bike issues with his team at the time. I hope he can re-find the form that initially made us sit up and take notice.

#TdRwanda22

ProTouch also bring seasoned campaigner Kent Main, Ugandan national champ, Charles Kagimu, and Mugisha Samuel – it's an understandably strong squad from Africa's top-ranked Conti team.

#TdRwanda22

Finally, on a similar journey of discovery to the Rwandan national team will be the Great Britain squad. All five are U23 riders, none has ever raced in Rwanda before. Leo Hayter, younger brother of Ineos' Ethan, had a storming prologue and currently sits sixth.

#TdRwanda22