Amidst a jam-packed Opening Weekend that also saw headlines from France as the Faun-Ardèche Classic went the wrong way at the finish line, it would have been easy to miss the rumblings thousands of miles away from the Tour du Rwanda's final stage.
This final stage seven was canceled due to rider protests over weather conditions, preventing a GC showdown in Kigali, a course meant as a rehearsal for September's World Championships. This denied a face-off between TotalEnergies' Fabien Doubey and XDS-Astana’s Henok Mulubrhan, who was just six seconds behind. As race leader, Doubey led the call to stop after riders urged him to advocate on their behalf.
After Doubey was confirmed as the winner—his first career victory— a backlash ensued. Mulubrhan was frustrated, arguing the race wouldn't have stopped for such weather conditions in Europe. The jury seemed to support him, fining Doubey 200 CHF for "damaging cycling’s image," and he now also faces a UCI disciplinary tribunal, according to L'Équipe.
WATCH: Moment when yellow jersey holder Fabien Doubey of @TeamTotalEnrg started communicating to fellow riders about the problem on the road caused by light storm and drizzle. But were the weather conditions too nasty to the extent of halting the last stage of #TdRwanda2025? Team… pic.twitter.com/uhONYahtsT
— Richard Kwizera (@Muzungu4) March 2, 2025
So, who was in the right? We've spoken to a rider in the race as well as someone at the roadside, both of whom had front row seats to what actually went on while the majority of the cycling world was instead absorbed in Opening Weekend.
"From my side it was completely the correct decision," the rider who was in the race told Escape Collective. "There was a rain shower just before the start and the roads were really, really slippery. There was a 15-rider crash on a pedestrian crossing about 300 metres into the neutral zone. We then stopped for 30 minutes and the organiser then told us that the route was being changed due to mud on the big lap so we would only do the small circuit.
"He also told the race that if it rained again it would be stopped. We waited until it dried up and then started again for four small laps. After two and a half laps, it began to rain and the wind really picked up with barriers blown over and branches on the course etc. All the riders seemed to be in agreement as far as I could tell."
The rider says TotalEnergies, Lotto and Picnic-PostNL's development team were all in agreement that the race should be stopped, and as far as they were aware it was only Eritrea that wanted to continue, but they still came to a stop with everyone else.
One Escape Collective member (who preferred to remain anonymous) was on the roadside in Kigali, and captured this video showing slippery surfaces causing multiple riders to fall.
This crash is what prompted the neutralisation of the first lap, they explained. It hadn't rained in over two weeks and as soon as it rains again it's quite common that white lines become super slippy, with a mix of dust and moisture. The French voice in the video can be heard saying "attention" just before the crash, and then adding "I told you so".
Once the race was stopped, our eyewitness also saw arguments between the coaching staff of TotalEnergies and other teams.
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