The 19-year-old Basque finished runner-up on the opening stage of the African race and pulled on the best young rider jersey.
Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team got off to a strong start at the Tour du Rwanda, where the 19-year-old took his first top-three finish since joining our feeder squad at the end of the race’s longest stage. Traveling from Rukomo to Rwamagana over a 173.6km course featuring around a dozen hills, this first day of racing wasn’t an easy one to control, but several teams – including ours – joined hands to work behind the breakaway.
That effort paid dividends, as the peloton managed to overhaul the leaders and keep things together in the finale for a bunch sprint, where Hodei generated an impressive turn of legs after being brought near the front of the group by his teammates and took second, despite being blocked for a brief moment, behind Itamar Einhorn (NSN Development Team).
“It was a good day. The team worked very well, especially when it came to positioning me for the finale. Thanks to this, I was fifth wheel with 200 meters to go. Unfortunately, I got a bit boxed in, but I’m happy with today’s result, leading a classification and with how the team rode the entire stage. It’s a nice start for us here”, said Hodei – the first white jersey of the race – after bringing Spain’s best result in five years at the Tour du Rwanda.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
