MTB cycling 2012 Olympics M cross-country RWA Adrien Niyonshuti

Adrien Niyonshuti (born 2 January 1987) is a Rwandan former professional bicycle racer, who rode professionally for from 2009 to 2017. He now works as a

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

for UCI Continental team . Although he survived, six of Niyonshuti's brothers were killed in the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

of 1994. Niyonshuti began riding a bicycle given to him by his uncle as a teenager, when he came to the attention of former professional cyclist Jacques Boyer in 2006 during the first Wooden Bike Classic.

Career

Born in Eastern Province, Rwanda, Niyonshuti began amateur cycling at the age of sixteen. In 2006, he came to the attention of a former professional cyclist, Jacques Boyer. The first American cyclist to compete in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, Boyer was working in Rwanda on a project to import cargo bicycles for coffee farmers. Boyer also assumed the role of coach for the Rwandan national cycling team, and recruited Niyonshuti to race.Delany, Ben (2009).
"Rwandan rider Niyonshuti faces a new future at the Tour of Ireland"
. ''Velonews''. 20 August 2009. Niyonshuti had good initial results in local races such as the Tour of Rwanda, in which he finished in the top ten five years in a row and won in 2006 and 2008.The New Times (2008).
"Niyonshuti bags Frw 0.7m"
. Retrieved 22 August 2009. In 2008, Niyonshuti attended the Africa Continental Centre Training Camp in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, where he was offered a contract by Douglas Ryder, the

of UCI Continental Team . He started his first UCI European road race in August 2009 with his participation in the

Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. Th ...

, becoming the first Rwandan cyclist to ride in the European professional

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

. Niyonshuti qualified to represent Rwanda in the cross-country mountain bike race during the

2012 Summer Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was also Rwanda's flagbearer at the opening ceremony. Niyonshuti competed for Rwanda again at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. He did not finish the men's road race. He was the flagbearer for Rwanda again during the opening ceremony. In 2017, he was aiming to make his Grand Tour debut.

Post-retirement activities, and the Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy

After the 2012 London Olympic Games Niyonshuti immediately felt he wanted to offer the chance for young people in his country to experience the power of cycling, to instill hope and to pass on its positive values to future generations. The Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy idea was born and the first location chosen was his home town of Rwamagana. Along with support from Team Rwanda / Team Africa Rising and the Rising from Ashes Foundation the academy was officially launched in the August 2013. The Adrian Niyonshuti Cycling Academy (ANCA) is located in the Rwamagana area of Rwanda. In recent years, it has been supplemented with the very latest

Zwift Zwift is a massively multiplayer online cycling and running physical training program that enables users to interact, train, and compete in a virtual world. Zwift was developed by Zwift Inc., which was co-founded by Jon Mayfield, Eric Min, Scot ...

and Wahoo Fitness equipment to enable Adrien and his team to help young riders train and compete in the virtual cycling world, without the challenge of securing visas and funding to race outside of Rwanda. On 14 July 2022, Adrien was invited by the

Qhubeka Qhubeka is a South African headquartered not-for-profit social mobility Charitable organization which donates bicycles to schoolchildren and key workers across South Africa and southern Africa. Qhubeka has donated over 105,000 of their unique bi ...

Charity to take part in a high profile marketing event at the

. Qhubeka is the charity of the Tour, and had planned an ascent of the iconic Alpe d'Huez on one of their single-speed Qhubeka bicycles. Adrien knows the Qhubeka Charity well, having been part of a large distribution of their bicycles in 2012, and also having attended several distributions of Qhubeka bicycles to schoolchildren during his time on the MTN-Qhubeka/Dimension Data professional team. Adrien completed the ascent of the Alpe d'Huez in an impressive 1 hour 36 minutes, and members of the international media were waiting for him at the finish line. After interviews with leading TV, radio and print media journalists, several articles have appeared, including Cycling Tips and Outdoor Online.

Major results

;2004 : 6th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2005 : 7th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2007 : 4th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2008 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2009 : 3rd Overall Tour of Rwanda : 10th Road race,

African Road Championships The African Continental Cycling Championships are a series of cycling races held annually in Africa where the African cyclists decide who will be the champion for the year to come. They have been held since 2001. Editions Men Road Race ...

;2010 : 1st Rwandan National Champion Cycling jersey

Road race, National Road Championships :

::4th Time trial ::8th Road race : 8th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2011 : 1st Rwandan National Champion Cycling jersey

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Overall Tour de Kigali : 5th Overall Kwita Izina Cycling Tour : 6th Overall Tour of Rwanda : 9th Road race, All-Africa Games : 9th Time trial,

;2012 : 1st Rwandan National Champion Cycling jersey

Road race, National Road Championships :

::7th Team time trial ::9th Time trial ::10th Road race : 9th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2013 : 9th Overall Tour of Rwanda ;2014 : 3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, National Road Championships ;2015 : 10th Time trial,

;2016 : National Road Championships ::1st Rwandan National Champion Cycling jersey

::2nd Road race ;2017 : 1st Rwandan National Champion Cycling jersey

, National Road Championships ;2018 : 2nd Silver medal africa

Team time trial,

References

External links

Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team

Ryder Cycling Profile: Adrien Niyonshuti

The Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy

Rising from Ashes (2012) IMDb page
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niyonshuti, Adrien 1987 births Living people Rwandan male cyclists Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Rwanda Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Rwanda People from Eastern Province, Rwanda Competitors at the 2011 All-Africa Games African Games competitors for Rwanda