Eritrean rider and reigning African Champion Henok Mulubrhan of XDS Astana Team claimed victory on the final stage of the Japanese stage race Tour de Kyushu, finishing fifth overall and also winning the red jersey in the points classification.
Mulubrhan’s teammate Matteo Malucelli won the overall race, which concluded on October 11 in China. For Malucelli, this double success marks his eighth victory of the season, while for XDS Astana Team, it is the 31st win of the 2025 season.
XDS Astana Team also won the Team Classification of the race.
The stage concluded with a sprint from a reduced peloton, where Mulubrhan, after a perfect lead-out from Alessio Delle Vedove, took an excellent position for the final sprint and went on to win.
“Today our main goal was to try to move up in the General Classification, so I focused on the intermediate sprints,” Mulubrhan said. “Also, Nicolas (Vinokurov) was very active – he attacked and tried to break away. We did everything we could.
“As a team, I think we rode a very strong stage; everyone gave 100% for the overall result. In the finale, the group was not very big, so I decided to go for the sprint. Alessio (Delle Vedove) helped me get into a good position, and then I gave it everything to take the win. It all worked out perfectly. It’s a really nice victory, and I’m happy to finish the season this way. It was a very intense season, and now it’s time to rest, recover, and reset for next year.”
Born on November 11, 1999, in Asmara, Mulubrhan has 13 UCI victories and currently holds 84th place in the UCI World Ranking.
