Morocco and El Kouraji dominant, UCI row, Russian riders... what we learned from the 2024 Tour du Faso

It all began on 25 October with stage one, from Koulbila to Tenkodogo, a 136 km run. That day, Morocco had three riders at the finish, with El Kouraji Mohcine first across the line. Naturally, he pulled on the yellow jersey as leader of the Tour du Faso, and he would hold on to it jealously all the way to the final stage.

Mali won the 10th and final stage of the 2024 Tour du Faso through Tiémoko Diamouténé, who was first across the line at the finish in Ouagadougou. It is Mali's very first stage win since the start of the 35th Tour du Faso. The Malian rider completed the stage between Boussé and Ouagadougou in 2:49:02, an average speed of 42.524 km/h. Dutchman Wijfje Tom finished 2nd and Burkinabè Congo Daouda completed the podium.

The overall winner of this 35th edition is Moroccan rider El Kouraji Mohcine. He takes the trophy and succeeds Paul Daumont on the Tour's roll of honour. El Kouraji Mohcine is thus the 6th Moroccan rider to win the Tour Cycliste International du Faso.

Morocco, the best team of this 35th edition, finish with three stage wins and have three riders on the final general classification podium: El Kouraji Mohcine, El Alouani Driss and El Arbaoui Adil. Russia, who won four of the ten stages, take home the intermediate sprints jersey thanks to Stash Mamyr and the green jersey thanks to Anton Popov, who single-handedly won three stages for his team. Burkina, the host nation, have to settle for a single stage win and leave with the combativity jersey.

After 10 stages, the race ends on a satisfied note. "I want to congratulate the organisers because it is not easy to stage an event like this. We got used to doing it with the late Francis Ducreux, but since his departure, you can see the Burkinabè themselves are taking charge of organising it. I can only salute them. I also salute the security, the catering, the accommodation, not forgetting the journalists", said Fernand Coffi Gandaho, Technical Director of Benin's national team.

Burkina's Sports Minister, Roland Somda, said: "All in all, no team let themselves down. All the participating countries won. It is sport that won, it is unity that won. It reminds us once again of the unifying nature of sport, and of cycling in particular, which has mobilised Burkina Faso and the foreign countries that came and saw that Burkina Faso is a good place to live, where you can go about your business calmly and peacefully."

Read also: Tour du Faso: tensions over the presence of a Russian team, UCI imposes sanction

The sanction from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which removed the Tour du Faso from its calendar, remains the only sour note of this edition. Following the second actual participation of Russia's CSKA Moscow team, after the one in 1987, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recalled its commissaire. Faced with the situation, Burkina Faso immediately turned to local expertise to ensure a happy outcome for this 35th Tour du Faso. "The UCI withdrew but the friends of Burkina Faso stayed. The Tour went very well. I must congratulate the local commissaires who took over immediately. It shows that in Burkina Faso, we have the skills to organise the Tour du Faso."

All's well that ends well. See you next year for the 36th edition.