Stradalli Cycle

Rain, Snow, podium and barbecue – an interesting first race for the guys from Rwanda in cold Germany at pro race 

Nikodemus Holler and Janvier Hadi convinced despite horrible weather conditions with place 2 and 3 at the team’s home-race in Überherrn.

We all know that in April there is a special situation with our weather conditions here in Germany. Due to influences from the wind we can have warm conditions (if we have south winds) or get all the cold weather from the Nordics and polar area (with winds from the north). For sure everybody hopes that the wind will always blow from the south but unfortunately we all got disappointed that day. A drop of 20 degree celcius compared to only 2 days before and also a mix of snow and rain should make this day unforgettable for the two guys who just arrived from Rwanda that week. Thankfully their Stradalli Cycle Aversa road bikes have performed amazingly despite the different weather conditions the team has faced.

Janvier Hadi and Jean Bosco Nsengimana. Two young riders, who come from the same small village in Rwanda and both of them know perfectly when it rains, as it sometimes rains a lot in Rwanda. But there it just feels like taking a warm shower while here they felt like sitting in a freezer. Due to this situation they had to learn quite quick that in Germany are couple of seasons, even if we should not have this kind of low temperature anymore. And at the end it should also have an impact on the race, as it was impossible for Janvier Hadi to eat enough as he couldn’t move his fingers anymore, as he told later after the race.

But at the beginning the impact should be not really visible as he took the chance and went into a break-away right from the start of the race, accompanied by his team mate Nikodemus Holler. Nikodemus just arrived 15 minutes to the start with his fancy VW Polo that let him suffer a little bit due to a technical problem but finally bring him safe and sharp to the start. Just in the bib-shorts and also shoes and jersey and off to race! Obviously Niko had the right level of adrenaline due to this incident and went also directly in that break-away that should work together quite well and stay out until the end of the race.

As the deciding moment arrived it was at the hill to Rammelfangen where the two guys from Stradalli – BIKE AID split the break again. After Nikodemus’ attack it was only Fabian Genuit and Janvier Hadi who could follow and made 3 out of 8. A perfect tactical situation for the team, as they had two out of 3 riders in the front.

But Janvier should feel the impact of the cold weather now in the final lap as he could not follow anymore after another raise of the tempo in the climb. So he got a small gap to the two guys in front and the perfect situation became a little bit worse as all knew Fabian was the better sprinter. So Nikodemus tried all he had to drop Fabian but he was staying on his wheel and took his chance to win in the final sprint.

Short after them it was Janvier Hadi who arrived at 3^rd place only couple of seconds behind. A great first race for him in Europe and especially with these conditions he is not used to. Congrats to him!

Also great performance by Nikodemus and the whole team to made an impressive race on this day. After this suffering all the riders well deserved an awesome barbecue with the BIKE AID community and letting an incredible day come to the end together!