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Natnael Berhane's disbelief after winning the Tropicale Amissa Bongo on January 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO SERGE ROGERS

Launched in 2006, the Tropical Amissa Bongo, which remains a benchmark in stage races on the African continent, celebrates its fifteen years of existence. Monday, January 18, the peloton will set off from Bitam for seven days of racing.

From our special correspondent in Libreville,

" When we started this race, we had no plan on the duration, " says Philippe Crepel, the sporting director of the event, in the plane which takes some of the protagonists of the fifteenth edition of the Tropicale in direction of Libreville.

"I hope there will be fifteen more, see more"

Since 2006, the Tropicale Amissa Bongo has become a meeting point for world cycling. And also an unmissable meeting point for African cycling. As confirmed by Benjamin Burlot, director of La Tropicale. The event marks the start of the international season with the Down-Under Tour in Australia.

After four editions, we saw that the mayonnaise was taking. Gabon is attached to this competition and it is now part of the national heritage. I hope there will be fifteen more, or even more, ”smiles Benjamin Burlot. He also wishes to pay tribute to the Tour of Burkina Faso, which paved the way for organizations on the continent. Above all, the Tropicale has enabled Gabon to embark on other adventures, taking the example of this organization, such as the CAN in 2012 (co-organized with Equatorial Guinea) and 2017, and in road races.

La Tropicale, revealing African talent

" We stayed true to our original idea: the mix between amateur and professional cyclists ," says Philippe Crepel. As he says: " La Tropicale is a landmark for the development of athletes ".

Like for example the Eritrean Natnael Berhane, the first African rider to win the Tropicale in 2014, who has since participated in the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain, and present on Monday on the Gabonese roads. It was also in Gabon that the Rwandan Joseph Areruya distinguished himself in 2018, a few months after winning his national tour.

With the selection of Rwanda, Joseph Areruya will try to make one forget a year 2019 in halftone. But he could have in front of him the new nugget of African cycling: the Eritrean Biniam Girmy, 20, who had won in 2019 the Franceville stage in front of the German André Greipel, one of the undisputed masters of the sprint on the Tour de France in the 2010s. Today, we can say that the Tropical Amissa Bongo has allowed certain African runners to find a place in certain professional teams.

Jean-René Bernaudeau, the faithful

La Tropicale is in any case an important race for the Frenchman Jean-René Bernaudeau, boss of the Total-Direct-Energie team. He has involved his various teams 13 times in the Tropicale. He was a pioneer when he signed a professional contract to an African runner: the Tunisian Rafaâ Chtioui in 2012. He then gave his chance to Natnael Berhane.

Today, Jean-René Bernaudeau is counting on Reunion rider Lorrenzo Manzin, winner of two stages last year and second in the general classification. Manzin will have 1,037 kilometers across the country with a Cameroon foray to boost the race. From Bitam on the first day, to Libreville for the last stage, it will be necessary to find a successor to Niccolo Bonifazio (Total-Direct-Energie), the last winner to date and absent for this new edition.