Adrien Niyonshuti
The remarkable story of cyclist Adrien Niyonshuti is one of resilience, opportunity and hard work.
Adrien Niyonshuti is arguably the most famous African mountain biker to date.
As covered in may news reports, Niyonshuti was seven when the militia men came to his village in Rwanda. Somehow, he escaped the April 1994 genocide – but six of his brothers did not. In the years since, cycling has been his therapy, his companion, his hope.
In 2006, he entered Rwanda’s first annual cycling festival, created by Jonathan “Jock” Boyer (the first American to finish the Tour de France), and mountain-bike pioneer Tom Ritchey. He recalls in the documentary: “It was difficult because it was my first time to ride a mountain bike. I was so scared to race with them … I crossed the line, I win. I surprised myself.”
Mountain biking has typically been a white man’s sport. “If we had more opportunities to compete with those white folks, I think it would bring hopes to our lives and our country,” Niyonshuti told an interviewer at the time. “We might develop as cyclists.”
Five months later, Boyer returned to set up and coach Team Rwanda, unmissable in their bright blue and yellow shirts with the image of a sun rising above hills.
Adrien was the star rider of Team Rwanda for the London Olympics 2012.
Read more about Adrien’s remarkable story of how he came to mountain biking (The Guardian).
I was looking through the internet recently and found there was The Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy website.
At first glance, I was thrilled. I was excited at the prospect of a growing mountain biking scene in Rwanda. The website has some good detail and lofty content, but has not been updated since 2014.
I wonder if it is still running, or if it is on hold while Niyonshuti is on the Pro circuit.
Adrien is still riding at the elite level, and as of 2018, he was looking for a pro contract. He has kept very busy during 2018 as his result stats indicate. This is not surprising considering he is the twice flag bearer for Rwanda’s summer Olympics team and has just ended a two-year World Tour run with South Africa’s Team Dimension Data-Qhubeka. Niyonshuti, now 302 has raced for the South African team for nine seasons as it progressed from the UCI Continental to Pro Continental and finally World Tour status.
The Academy is a great idea to support local up and coming riders. I hope it is still operating.
The Academy has posted a February calendar of training and social events.
The Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy
Here’s a bit of background about the Academy from the official website:
After the 2012 London Olympic Games Adrien immediately felt he wanted to offer the chance for young people in his country to experience the power of cycling, to install hope and to pass on its positive values to future generations.
The Academy idea was born and the first location chosen was Adrien’s home town of Rwamagana. Along with support from the Rwandan Cycling Federation, Team Rwanda and the Rising from Ashes Foundation the Academy was officially launched in the August 2013.
The initial 2014 program will focus on building the Academy in Rwamagana with a view to opening up two new Rwandan centers in 2015. The presence of a professional team documenting and continuously assessing performance via tangible results the Academy will have gained the tools and experience to expand outside the borders of Rwanda.
Cycling 2012 Adrien Niyonshuti was the first Rwandan Cyclist to compete for his country in the Olympic Games. Adrien’s story captured the hearts of Rwandans at home and abroad as a symbol of pride and hope for a new Rwanda.
His personal story was magnified by the fact that he had lost 60 of his family members including six of his brothers in the 1994 genocide. His journey, along with his team mates from Team Rwanda, into the world of professional cycling was documented in the award-winning documentary Rising From Ashes.
Soon after the 2012 London Olympic Games Adrien immediately felt he wanted to offer the chance for young people in his country to experience the power of cycling install hope and values to the next generations.
The Academy idea was born and the first location chosen was Adrien’s home town of Rwamagana. Along with support from the Rwandan Cycling Federation, Team Rwanda and the Rising from Ashes Foundation the Academy was officially launched in the August 2013.
The Academy has listed an ambitious number of projects,
- Community
- Peace
- Education
- Nutrition
- Mechanics
- Enterprise
I’ve sent an email to the Academy to see if they are still operating. Fingers Crossed!
All images from the ANCA website unless specified. Some content in this post is from the ANCA website and the Guardian article.