The last stage of the 16th edition of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo was won this Sunday, January 29 by the Dane Alexander Salby (Bingoal-WB), who beat the Eritrean Henok Mulubrhan and the Russian Sergei Rostovtsev. The Frenchman Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies), who took over the yellow jersey at the end of the 6th stage, emerged victorious in the general classification.
Another victory in Gabon for Team TotalEnergies. At the end of the 7th and last stage of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo, this Sunday January 29, the Frenchman Geoffrey Soupe won the general classification of this edition (20h18’16”) and the first victory of his career on the Tropicale . It allows his team to win its 9th overall success in the history of the event. He notably emerged victorious from the first stage in Oyem, but did not manage to keep the yellow jersey for long. before resuming it on Saturday January 28, during the penultimate stage in the streets of Port-Gentil.
It was the Dane Alexander Salby, of the Belgian team Bingoal-WB, who won at the end of this final stage (3h00’33”) by sprinting ahead of the Eritrean Henok Mulubrhan and the Russian Sergei Rostovtsev during upon arrival in Libreville. Frenchman Lorrenzo Manzin (TotalEnergies), initially announced third in the stage, finally came down from the podium in favor of Russian Sergei Rostovtsev (Beykoz) after the photo finish.
African runners in great shape
This 16th edition also marks a record in the history of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo. For the first time, four African riders rank in the top 5 of the final standings: Algerian Hamza Amari (2nd), Mauritian Christopher Rougier-Lagane (3rd) and Eritreans Natnael Berhane (4th) and Dawit Yemane (5th) . It was also the fastest in the history of the event with an average of 44.471 km/h, surpassing the 2019 record which peaked at an average of 43.448 km/h.