Eritrea's Merhawi Kudus crowned African Road Champion

Merhawi Kudus can now call himself the new African road champion.

The experienced rider ensures that the ProTeam Burgos BH Burpellet will have a special champion jersey to design for next year. 

Kudus was gifted the victory by his compatriot Awet Aman, as they crossed the finish line together.

At the African Championship in Kenya, the course consisted of several flat local laps followed by a finale towards the city of Kwale.

The last 20 kilometers featured a significant climb, with a final ascent in two parts: first 2.5 kilometers at just over 7%, and after a short descent, another 1.4 kilometers at 8.6% to the finish.

Kudus proved to be the strongest together with the 22-year-old Aman and received the win as a gift from his younger compatriot.

The bronze went to Oussama Mimouni from Algeria, who finished five seconds later.

In the past three years, the African title went to Henok Mulubrhan, who was absent this weekend in Kenya.

• CAC Road Cycling African Championships (Men Elite) ranking