They won the first two laps of the race through Mohamed Essaid and Saadoune Abdelati respectively.

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Morocco has proven they are out for business at the ongoing 13th edition of the International Cycling Tour of Cameroon. They have so far won the first two laps of the race and conserve the yellow jersey of the leader of the competition. Moroccan born, Er Rafai Mohamed Essaid Amione, won the first lap of the race on Saturday 12 March 2016 run between Ayos and Yaounde while his fellow country man, Saadoune Abdelati again won the second lap of the race which took place between Pouma and Kribi, yesterday.

With the winner of the last edition of the Grand Prix Chantal Biya and the cycling tour of Côte d’Ivoire, Lahsaini Mouhsine yet to say his last word in the competition, it is certain that Morocco will be team to watch in this year’s edition of the race. However, Cameroon is turning the heat on the Moroccans as a Cameroonian,  Mbah Herve Raoul came second in the first lap and Tekou fokou Damien, third in the second lap yesterday 13 March 2016 behind Palcak Jozef from Switzerland in the second position.

On the general classification, Rafai Essaid Amine maintains the top position despite emerging 19th during the second lap yesterday. Mbah Hervé Raoul, the first Cameroonian on the general classification table is second with 2 minutes, six seconds behind the race bearer of the yellow jersey while Yemeli Pichele Herman is third on the general classification. In the team classification, Cameroon is third behind Morocco and Bansa Bysterica of Switzerland in the first and second positions respectively.

The race enters the third lap today to be run between Kribi and Douala over a distance of 173km which is the longest. The topography is fairly flat from the beginning to the end and could still favour Moroccans who are good rollers and sprinters. However, Cameroon may take their chance on Morocco when the race gets to the mountainous part of the country as Cameroon has good climbers like last year winner, Kamzong Abessolo alias ‘epistolero’.

There have been some hitches recorded in this edition of the race which got up to a promising start at Ayos where the population turned out massively. Upon arrival in Yaounde, around Nkoabang, there were no security officers on the way to control traffic and the race caravan was perturbed by unscrupulous motorists which were not to the taste of the race referee who made it known.

Also, there was no vehicle with a sound system to herald the arrival of the race caravan which led to a poor attendance on the road sides by spectators as has been the case in the past. Drivers and security officials also complained of staying up late to receive fuel which infers on the departure time that has always been behind the schedule since the beginning of the race.

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