70 cyclists from five African, four European and three Cameroonian clubs will be taking part in the race.

The 12th edition of the international cycling tour of Cameroon will kick off tomorrow with the first lap to be run between Yaounde and Bafia.

Some 70 cyclists from Europe and Africa will be taking part in the race namely; Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the republic of Congo, France, Slovakia and Switzerland.

The eight-lap race will however be run between Bafia and Bangangte for the very first time. Also, there will be no criterium in Yaounde but in Douala so as to lure sponsors and there will be only one rest day in Kribi.

Out of the 20 cycling lions that went into camp to prepare for the race, 17 have been retained and divided into three clubs. Besides taking part in the Tropical Amissa Bongo which served as preparation for the race, the cycling selection also made a reconnaissance tour before the race in order to increase their chances of winning.

Administratively, the last preparatory meeting took place on Tuesday under the chairmanship of the Minister of Sports and Physical Education. It came out from that meeting that owing to budgetary constraints, the budget for the race has been drastically reduced.

More so, 16 per cent will be deducted from the bonuses of athletes and allowances of officials according to the prescriptions of the new finance law.

Foreign delegations started arriving in the country since Thursday including the race referee, Jean-Pierre Copenolle. The race will end on March 22 with the 8th and last lap to be run between Pouma and Yaounde.