Merhawi Kudus Wins Eritrean Time Trial Title and Brings Another Victory to Astana – Premier Tech

Merhawi Kudus has added another triumph to Astana – Premier Tech’s collection by winning the Eritrean individual time trial and securing the national title. Kudus delivered a remarkable performance on a flat course, finishing 34 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Mekseb Debesay. Dawit Yemane secured the third position on the podium.

“I am really happy to take the win and wear the Eritrean national time trial champion skinsuit for the first time in my career! It’s really special to represent Eritrea and wear my country’s jersey in the WorldTour! I can’t say that today’s time trial suited me well because the course was quite flat, but I managed to find a good rhythm and to keep it during the whole race. Well, we did two laps of an 18-kilometre course, so it was 36 kilometres in total. I felt good and I was able to win by 34 seconds in the end. I was really motivated to take the jersey this year and of course, now I am looking forward to the road race. It is going to be another flat race so on paper the course doesn’t look really good for me. Also, with so many riders from different teams, it won’t be easy to control the situation. But with the form I have I am really motivated and ready to give everything I have to win the road race title once again as I did it back in 2018,” – said Merhawi Kudus.

This victory marks the fourth national time trial title for Astana – Premier Tech, following the accomplishments of Aleksandr Vlasov in Russia, Ion Izagirre in Spain, and Matteo Sobrero in Italy.