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

(Paperback)

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** Winner of the British Sports Book Awards 2014 New Writer of the Year ** The astonishing true story of the Rwandan Cycling Team ** Winner of the British Sports Book Awards 2014 New Writer of the Year ** Where there is hope there can be redemption. Meet Adrien Niyonshuti, a member of the Rwandan cycling team. Adrien was seven years old when he lost his family in the 1994 genocide that tore Rwanda apart. Almost twenty years later he has a shot at representing his country at the Olympics. Meet Jock Boyer, the coach of Team Rwanda. One of the top American cyclists of all time, Jock recognises the innate talent for endurance that the Rwandans possess. A man with a dark past, Jock is in need of a second chance. Meet Tom Ritchey, the visionary inventor of the mountain bike and the U.S. money man looking to recover from a profound personal crisis. In The Land of Second Chances, Tim Lewis charts the incredible true story of the Rwandan cycling team as they overcome impossible odds to inspire a nation.

Reviews

Fascinating... not a typical rags to riches, triumph against adversity tale... Lewis does a fine job of unpicking a tangled narrative * Observer *
A remarkable story... attempts to import the Lycra-clad, precision-engineered world of the Tour de France into rural Africa form the heart of this absorbing book...Team Rwandas story could have been edited into an uplifting tale of unlikely success, with Niynoshutis Olympic appearance as the rousing finale. Instead this is a more complicated, darker, account. * Financial Times *
It's a book that successfully melds many facets and characters. At times deeply shocking, always moving and occasionally very amusing, The Land of Second Chances is ultimately an uplifting story of hope * Wheelsuckers *
His meticulously researched work merits a wider audience than appealing to devotees of the biking fraternity and will surely get one. A good cycling tale and this one is a cracker * Birmingham Post *
An eloquent and compassionate tale by Observer author Tim Lewis. Perfect for: sport lovers after a leftfield underdog story -- Sam Dansie * Bike Radar *

Author Bio

TIM LEWIS is a feature writer at the Observer and contributing editor of Esquire. He has previously been editor of both the Observer Magazine and Observer Sport Monthly, Britain's most prestigious sports magazine. Prior to that he was editor of the Independent on Sunday's Sunday Review and deputy editor of Esquire.