All language subtitles for Rising.from.Ashes.2012.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

The most devastating
circumstances

can yield the most powerful
and unexpected forms of hope.

In April of 1994,

a bike equaled hope.

It could have made
the difference

between life and death
for many Rwandans.

Over the course
of a hundred days,

any access
to a bicycle

could have meant
escaping a massacre

that claimed nearly
one million lives.

As Rwandans
fled the country,

each excruciating
pedal stroke

took them closer to life,
but farther from loved ones

caught in a nightmare
of ethnic cleansing.

Many Rwandans learned
that the narrow escape

did not mean an end
to their suffering,

but a beginning
for a country

that would rise
from the ashes.

Rwanda has a rich history
of competitive cycling,

but that, too,
was a victim of the genocide.

Undaunted
by the past,

a group of passionate,
young cyclists

began reclaiming
old racing bikes

from Rwanda's
bordering countries.

In 2005,
Tom Ritchey,

one of the original creators
of the mountain bike,

heard about this impassioned
group of cyclists.

This bicycle legend wanted
to see these riders for himself

as well as explore the region
on his mountain bike.

The purpose of the team
was to give them

a stage where they
could do something

to take pride in,
national pride in.

When I saw how naturally
gifted they were

in terms of riding
within their limitations,

of course I fantasized
about, "What if they had

the opportunity,
could they become cyclists

that could compete
in the world stage,"

and thought, "What's the best
starting place?"

Jock Boyer was a cyclist
from my childhood.

Jock is a good,

a good coach.

His name is
Jonathan Boyer,

but the French call
him "Jacques Boyer,"

and he is
the first American

ever to compete
in the Tour de France,

a three-week test
of cycling speed and stamina

with climbs equivalent
to three trips

to the summit
of Mount Everest.

Tom kept calling me, saying,
"Hey, let's go to Rwanda,"

and I hemmed and hawed,
didn't really want to go.

What I saw was somebody that
was incredibly pain-tolerant

and somebody that was
somewhat self-destructive.

I went to jail.

Jail is--jail is--
it's not a good place.

He is the most unique individual
that I have ever met.

That uniqueness and Rwanda
seemed to collide, in my mind.

For me, it was a real waste
to be in a situation

where I spent all
my life in cycling

and not to be able
to share that.

That was
a burden for me.

I have always felt
I've been given--

actually more
than a second chance.

I've been given
many chances.

Rwanda is known as
the Land of a Thousand Hills.

The hillsides are covered
with endless dirt roads

and footpaths that make
this small African country

ideal for the sport
of mountain biking.

A year after
his first visit,

Tom Ritchey rallied a handful
of professional cyclists

and Rwanda advocates
to return to Rwanda.

They would host the country's
very first mountain bike race

called the Wooden Bike Classic.

Tom convinced his reluctant
friend, Jock Boyer,

to come along
on the adventure.

I was intrigued
a little bit,

but I didn't really know
anything about Rwanda.

You know, I had to look
on a map to see where it was.

I didn't hardly know anything
about the genocide,

so I kind of went
reluctantly.

I was brought in
to look at the talent,

actually race
with the talent

so I could get an idea
of who the riders were.

Rwandans, they look
athletic, no body fat.

If you go by what
a rider looks like,

these guys really looked
like they were riders.

Among the hundreds
of cyclists

was Adrien Niyonshuti,

a tall, thin
18 year old

who'd begun riding
just three years earlier.

These guys came
at least a hundred kilometers

the day before
to race this race.

That, in and of itself,
was pretty remarkable,

and I don't even know how
they found out about the race.

My expectation
is a lot of crashes

and hopefully
a bike in one piece

by the bottom
of a hill,

or at least
a stadium anyway.

I didn't really know what
to think in the beginning.

I was racing, Tom was--
I mean, we all were racing.

I was out there
in front for a while,

got caught
by a Rwandan.

He knew he had
good pedal stroke

and a pretty
good attitude.

We saw riders
with good talent.

Adrien, he was calm,
he had a lot of talent,

his power-to-weight
was high,

and I could tell already,
very motivated.

Talking to Adrien
later at this race,

and we got big prizes,
and we all expected

everything to disappear
after that.

During that first
Wooden Bike Classic,

it was clear that Jock
was a natural fit

for coaching
Team Rwanda.

Tom took
the next step.

He asked Jock
to move to Rwanda

to formally evaluate
the riders

and begin building
the team.

Jock Boyer's
unique past

equipped him to build
a professional cycling team

10,000 miles
away from home.

As teenagers,
Jock Boyer and Tom Ritchey

were rising stars
who overtook many

of North America's
top cyclists.

Having reached the top
of North American cycling

by the age of 17,
Jock decided to leave home

and pursue
his career in Europe

and compare himself against
the best cyclists in the world.

I was an oddity, because no
American had ever come over

and let alone beat them
in their races.

After eight years of living
and racing in France,

paying his dues
in frightening crashes

in frightening
illnesses,

Boyer has become
a superb racer.

He's six foot tall,
135 pounds,

and only one and one half
percent body fat,

a vegetarian who has
remarkable recuperative powers,

powers needed in a race
that spans 2,000 miles.

It wasn't--it never really
impacted me till much later

that it was a big deal
being the first American.

I had spent 20 years
in Europe.

I came back, and there
was a portion of my life

I made some really,
really stupid mistakes.

I went through
a really dark period.

I was struggling.

He needed
a second chance

just like I needed a second
and a third and a fourth chance.

After two months,
I said, "Okay,

I'll go over there
for a couple months

and see if we can find
some real talent."

One of the things
that I was wanting to do

when I first chose the team
was their physiological level,

their power level,
had to be there.

Another test
for school,

Another test,
test for bike.

I was not understand
the test for bike.

I rode with them every day
for over a month,

and you can tell which riders
naturally shifted right,

naturally went down
the hills pretty good.

And also, you know, the essence
you feel from a rider,

the power, the mind power,
of suffering,

how long are they
gonna hang on.

Cycling is
about suffering.

You cannot
be a cyclist

without going through
incredible amounts of pain.

Nobody escapes it.

I knew these guys
were gonna be traveling,

so I needed
personalities,

and that was
a big deal.

If I had two riders
with the same power

and one was really charismatic
and kind of got it,

I would--well,
I did pick them.

I thought I had
a pretty good group.

Rafiki was one of the first
guys Tom and I met.

He was outspoken,
always smiling,

always happy,
and he was strong.

So, Rafiki was
a natural for the team.

Nathan Byukusenge.

Nathan is the rebel
of the team.

You can see in his smile
he's a little bit mischievous.

He brought something
really positive

and good
to the team.

Nyandwi was the big plus,
and he was strong,

and he was riding a bike
that was 25 years old,

and two of five
gears worked.

Abraham came in
a little bit big of a head,

you know,
a prima donna.

I couldn't ignore him
'cause his numbers

were really good.

I could tell how much
he really cared for his family.

Looking at Abraham, you can
tell he's been through hell,

and he's never
talked about it.

Abraham has seen
some really bad stuff.

I was impressed with Adrien
in his way of pedaling,

his attitude.

You could tell he was
a real kind person

that had a lot more thought
in what he was doing

than any
of the others.

When I saw all of that
for the first time,

I thought
there is a chance.

You know, I knew
that there was a chance,

and I think there
was a curiosity

in how far we could go
and how good they really were.

When I first
came here,

I heard that there
was a genocide here,

I heard that, you know,
there was...stuff that happened,

and it really didn't--
you know,

I didn't let it bother me,
I didn't really think about it,

I didn't read
anything about it.

I didn't go to any
genocide museum.

You know, it wasn't something
I really wanted to do.

I felt like I was
not letting it

affect how I looked
at things.

Creating a cycling
team in Rwanda

will require tending to far more
than physical needs alone.

For eleven years,
these young cyclists

had lived in the aftermath
and psychological turmoil

of one of modern day history's
most devastating genocides.

The events leading up
to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda

date back
to the 1800s

during the European
expansion into Africa.

Germany was the first country
to colonize Rwanda.

After World War I,
the Belgians took over

and began dividing
the population

into three
ethnic groups:

the Hutus,

the Tutsis,

and a small minority,
the Twa.

The Tutsis were
historically cattlemen

while the Hutus were farmers
who lived by agriculture.

The colonists created
a strict system

of racial separation

by evaluating
physical attributes

such as eye color
and nose size.

The Belgians issued
racial identification cards

and officially separated
the population in two:

85 percent Hutu
and 14 percent Tutsi.

The Belgians considered
the Tutsi minority

superior to the Hutus

and granted the Tutsi minority
rule over the country.

The separation also meant Hutus
were denied higher education,

land ownership,
and position in government.

For decades, the Hutus
gradually took out

their resentment
against the Tutsi minority.

Hutu extremists began
identifying Tutsis

as evil cockroaches,
and began broadcasting

hate propaganda
over Rwandan radio.

They promoted Rwandans
to kill Tutsis

and opponents
of the Hutu regime.

In April of 1994,

during the early morning hours,
civilian militant groups

began strategically
blockading public roads.

The Hutus used
the racial identification cards

to target Tutsis
and separate the population.

These militant groups then began
systematically executing Tutsis,

and thus began
the Rwandan Genocide

as we know it.

Red Cross officials
say tens of thousands,

perhaps hundreds
of thousands,

have now become victims
in the war in Rwanda.

Revenge killings have spread
from the capital, Kigali,

to the rest
of the country.

You may find some
of the pictures

in our report
from Rwanda disturbing.

Modern weapons were not
the primary means of execution,

but rather primitive tools
such as machetes and clubs

were used to slaughter
the victims.

Nearly one person was killed
every ten seconds

for one hundred
straight days.

Almost one million people
in three months.

The war came to an end after
the Rwandan Patriotic Front

defeated
the Hutu-led militia.

This rebel army composed
primarily of Tutsi refugees

was led
by Paul Kagame,

who later became
president of Rwanda.

During the genocide,
many of the cyclists

of Team Rwanda
were small children

between the ages of five
and twelve years old.

Many took refuge
in the bordering countries

or within the dense forest
throughout Rwanda.

The riders, and thousands
of other refugees,

lived in these conditions
for four to eighteen months

after the genocide ended.

None of them had any idea
of the devastation

that was waiting
for them back home.

After I spent time
with the riders,

it really started
to hit me.

You know, most of it's all
unspoken, just looking at them.

The way I could really see
their past in their eyes

is pretty much how much
hope the bike gave them.

You could see how much they
were hanging on for dear life

on the bike because
it was their way out.

Welcome.

-Bonjour.
-Bonjour.

When we first
started training,

their equipment was
25 year old equipment.

When we were riding, they never
really rode in a pack.

They chose bigger gears

just 'cause that was
their training technique.

Getting them to eat
while they ride,

getting them to drink
while they ride took months

and months
and months.

It is the most
brain-racking,

trying to figure out ways
to get them to trigger

to be able to do
two things at once.

Forget about
three things.

Stops when we get flats
or mechanical difficulties

is really not good.

Your blood vessels
contract.

Starting back up again
is really hard,

and it kind of breaks
your whole training.

It's kind of annoying,
but right now,

with the equipment
and everything,

it's hard not to get flats
and something wrong.

Nyandwi broke
his chain.

If I put a new one on,
it would just skip.

He needs a whole new
crankset and freewheel,

and it's a screw-on,
it's not a new cassette,

so it's impossible
to change

unless you change
the whole bike.

Oh, man.

These bananas,
by far,

are the best
in the world.

And it's basically the only
thing we can eat out here,

otherwise it's fried bread
or some sort of garbage.

They taste so good.

In Rwanda, there is
a responsibility

of whoever earns money
to feed whoever they can.

So, if I give enough
money for a Rwandan

to sustain himself
really well foodwise,

he is obliged, pretty much,
by the culture,

to feed as many family
members as possible,

and since the families,
you know, they're having

nine, eight kids
each family,

he's feeding twenty
people, you know,

with what I'm giving
to him personally.

It isn't about
the bike here.

It is our vehicle.

It's the vehicle that I've
been brought up my whole life,

so that's the only vehicle that
I am the most comfortable with.

Same with Tom.

Having seen these
young riders' potential,

it was now time
to put them to the test.

Our first race
for the riders

was the Cape Epic
in South Africa,

which is probably
the most grueling

mountain bike stage race
in the world.

Regarded as the most prestigious
mountain bike stage race

in the world,
the Cape Epic has been called

the Tour de France
of mountain biking.

The race attracts
over a thousand top riders

from around the world
to compete for eight days

across South Africa's
most rugged terrain.

I pick Rafiki
because he was strong,

plus he knew English.

He was a good,
charismatic person

for talking to people,
the press,

it'd be like
a new team.

Adrien I picked
solely on his--

he was smooth, it looked like
he could handle a bike well,

'cause this was a grueling
mountain bike race.

Adrien, he had never been
out of his home area.

He'd never
been anywhere.

Never been on a plane,
never been in a...

Adrien, I don't think
he'd ever been in a car.

He had been in a bus,
but he'd never been in a car.

Adrien didn't know
any English.

He knew a little French,
so he would just smile.

The processing they would
have to be going through

is only probably comparable
to a newborn baby.

Most of the media--
well, all of the media

on Rwanda has always
been negative.

I think everybody
wanted to know

what on Earth
a Rwandan team

was doing
at the Cape Epic.

To see a bike team here
with obviously Rwandan riders

was striking.

The only mountain bike
experience the riders had

were at the Wooden Bike Classic
in '06,

and they had never been
on the mountain bike

before or after and since
the Wooden Bike Classic.

I would say that it's
gonna be really important

that we stay in front
for the first two, three days

because the really strong riders
that aren't good at stage races

start to really fatigue
after three and four days,

and they'll just,
like, disappear,

so it's gonna be
really important

that we just stay in
the frontish group until then,

and then when the others
start pinging off the front,

just hold our own.

It was hard.

We just stayed
with the front group.

Adrien did
unbelievable today,

and some of the pros
came up to him and said,

"Hey, man,
you're up front."

He's--I mean, there's so many
things he can improve on,

and he's still
up front.

He's gonna be
a contender

'cause he's got
some raw talent

that's untamed
right now.

He could dig deeper.

Very surprising
to a lot of people

to see them
not just from Rwanda,

but to see them
racing at that level.

Mountain bikes
versus road bikes

has always been kind
of a question for us.

Tom is really
pro-mountain bikes.

I'm more road bikes.

You know,
the background of Jock

and his side on road
and his relationships and all

is something
that is what it is,

and Jock
is available,

and he's committed
on the ground.

I like both,

both road bikes
and mountain bikes.

I chose road bikes primarily
because I was a road bike racer.

After I got
out of the jail,

first time I rode
a bike, it was hard,

I knew it was gonna be hard
because I hadn't been riding.

I hadn't even been exercising
for, you know, nine months.

One of the shocking things
when you get out is colors

and living things.

You can't imagine
the change of getting out

and just experiencing life

because it's--

you didn't
have it before,

everything was gone.

I ended up in jail

because I overstepped
my boundaries

with a minor,
a girl,

and ended up pleading
guilty to ten counts

of lewd behavior
with a minor.

It was all a consequence
of just really,

really seriously
bad judgment calls.

Once I got out,
it was,

you know,
re-grouping,

and I was really
fortunate, you know,

my life's always
been cycling,

and I had
gone off that.

God had given me
gifts in athletics,

I chose cycling,

and my purpose was
using those gifts.

You know, Adrien rides a bike
because his past haunts him.

Now that I'm
thinking of it now,

I got out of jail
and I got on my bike.

It gives you
time to think.

Despite Team Rwanda's
recent success,

the next challenge remained:

could these gifted riders
embrace the suffering

that was unique to road cycling?

The answer to these questions
awaited them in America.

I wanted to know
if they had a chance,

because a VO2 test will
determine their potential.

A VO2 test is a test
that measures your ability

to process oxygen
through your lungs

and get it to your blood
to your muscles.

It's mostly genetically
determined,

'cause it goes
on how much oxygen

you can process per minute
per kilo of body weight.

[speaking foreign language]

Yep.

Inside.

Put it in your mouth.

[speaking foreign language]

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

So these number are good,
and I think that actually

you guys have better
than these numbers.

I think Adrien
has got the most talent,

and even testing at UC Davis,

he definitely has
the most genetic potential.

[speaking foreign language]

Silver City,
the Tour of the Gila.

I called up the organizers

and they were instantly
wanting us to come.

They had no idea riders
could ride so fast.

It was an eye-opening experience
for them.

I needed them to feel like
no matter how they finished,

it's gonna be a good thing
for them,

and I didn't want them
to get discouraged,

which was inevitable.

Adrien lasted the longest,

and even then he didn't last,
I think,

more than half the race.

It was the hardest races
they've ever been.

They were just toasted.

They had a good sense of humor
about it, I mean,

even Abraham.

He was tellin' jokes

and they were all
just laughing about it

even though it was just tragic.

That was a good ride.

Good ride.

That's good, huh?

Yeah.

Yes?

You're okay.

Yeah.

These races might be hard,
but it's nowhere near as hard

as the pro races.

I mean there's no comparison
to that.

When will they do their first
pro races, you think?

-Do you have any idea?
-They might never.

-Yeah.
-Don't know.

Depends on how they adapt
and how well they do.

Go.

You have to have
a certain mindset

to be able to persevere.

It comes in two parts.

If you have the physical,

you can't make it
without the mental.

When you go down,
you get up and get on your bike

and start moving.

Skin rash is skin rash.

They gotta get used to it.

[speaking foreign language]

Abraham is good.

You see me?

Ah, no.

Yea, it's easy.

Yeah, it just...

must learn.

They're very bonded riders.

Jim Click gave us
the Econoline van, you know,

a five-bench-seat seater.

They spent the whole time
on one bench seat.

You know, I even had to reduce
the amount of rooms I got

because they preferred
two and three in the bed.

You know, I'd get one hotel room
instead of three hotel rooms,

'cause they'd put
all the mattresses in one room

and all sleep in one room.

You know, when you share
really bad times together,

even though they might not have
been in the same city or town,

there is an understanding
that you made it, too.

It's good.

[speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language]

Everywhere we went,

it just kept getting
the notch higher and higher

of how incredibly warm
and welcoming Americans can be

to people
from foreign countries.

You know, their abilities
are up there,

but there are still
hundreds of other riders.

It's my job to make sure
they're perfectly fit

and try to get
that message across

that this is the ticket
that they need to be taking.

When we went back to Rwanda
from USA,

they feared that
when we got back,

we were just gonna pull out
and that was gonna be it.

"No, there's no talent,
we're goin' home."

Rwanda is prone to a lot
of non-profits coming in,

spending a year,

maybe two years
if they're lucky,

and then just leaving.

Since they have not created
a self-sustaining business,

it just falls apart,
so whatever they started

basically is only good
for the time that they're there.

Adrien is the example.

He kept asking me,
"When are you gonna leave?

Are you gonna leave us?"

And then...

My dad was very unique.

He was a dreamer,

he was a uranium prospector,

and kind of a gold miner.

You know, always searching
for that motherload.

And very unconventional,

always had a remedy
for something,

always looked to nature
for something.

And he was also uncanny
with animals.

It was a...

Yeah, it was too bad we never
spent too much time with him.

You know, we didn't see him
for a long time

when my parents
got separated.

There was--we had to go
to Thompson, Wyoming,

to pick the train,
the Vista Cruiser

to California.

Yeah, my dad and the dog
drove alongside the train...

...waving and...

being six, you know,
six years old,

we didn't really know
what was goin' on,

but we knew that we weren't
gonna see him again.

Yeah, that was the saddest day
of my life.

And when Adrien, you know,
kept asking me...

I think when Adrien kept asking
me, "Are you gonna leave?"

I could empathize with it.

My dad left.

I wasn't gonna let that happen.

Let's see, it's ten minutes
before the start and...

nothing's happening, so,
you know, that's Africa.

This is Africa.

[speaking foreign language]

Nine fifty-five,

looks like we're gettin' close
to the start.

It's kind of a mess,
but, uh, hey, it's interesting.

The numbers are these bibs,
they're kind of--

you gotta see them,
they're pretty different.

So everybody basically
will have the same jersey,

so you will not be able
to tell anybody.

But when we came back
to the Tour of Rwanda,

this was the first time...

that they could actually compare
their fitness level

before they went to America
and after.

They didn't have any gauge

'cause they were always
gettin' beaten

and always hangin' on
for dear life.

Team Rwanda claimed
uncontested victory

in all nine stages
of the 2007 Tour of Rwanda.

The last two years of the tour,

we had over
three million spectators.

It was the first time
that the country

really put it on the radar.

It was like these guys
come back,

they look good,
they got new bikes,

you know, they have kits
that are just spectacular,

and they were recognized
everywhere.

The riders definitely do pay
the price for being successful.

You know, not everybody
handles it well.

When they go on trips,
when they're on the team,

everybody thinks they're
just loaded with money.

So...

Not only do they get harassed
by their own family members,

they get threats
from the community of people

that just want their money.

Abraham is--
he's had a really hard life,

especially
in the last three years.

He lost his mother,
unknown illness,

she just died.

Two months later,
his wife got ill one night.

He brought her to the hospital
and by morning she was dead.

The youngest one
he had to give up for adoption

'cause he couldn't take care
of three kids alone.

[speaking foreign language]

Something in the future
has to be structured

where families
do get supported

but in a way that
they're not the direct target

of that sort of aggression.

Within four years,
this family of riders

had outgrown
their original training center

and moved to a new facility
based in the northern region

of Rwanda.

I went from five riders
to eighteen riders

just by testing riders
and recognizing

that a lot of these riders
needed bikes.

[speaking foreign language]

Team Rwanda will never be
more than like 12 riders.

I need to get riders
that are strong,

that can ride with
the other riders

so they all improve
themselves.

[speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language]

Go on, keep going.

He's one of the better ones
that we tested in that group,

and he's got
a good pedal stroke.

A typical week
for our riders here is

Mondays they ride their bikes
to training camp,

which is between
four hour ride

to some of them are like
a seven hour ride.

So they arrive in the afternoon,
we feed them.

They get English lessons
in the evening.

Each day of the week,

they have different
training schedules,

they get three
really good meals a day,

and then on Fridays
they go home.

The team has become
a family.

It's...

especially the older ones,
they bind the newer ones,

and as soon as a newer one
come in,

it's not like they're an outcast
until a certain amount.

They really integrate
the new ones into the team.

I don't make favorites.

They screw up, they screw up,
they get a consequence.

I think as hard as I am,

they know I am
just totally devoted to them,

and I think that's
what enables me to get done

what I get done.

[unintelligible]

[unintelligible]

I mean, they're terrified of me
at times when I get mad,

and...

I wouldn't have it
any other way.

I mean, discipline
is really good.

It's a lot more
than just coaching,

it's being involved
with their lives.

Two, one, go!

I need, and I continue to need,
to seed them ideas

that will give them an image
of where they can go.

Adrien is our biggest hope
for the other riders

'cause he's setting the bar
high enough

where they already imagine
themselves,

they can be at that level.

Adrien Niyonshuti
became the first cyclist

of the original five
to ride professionally

for one of South Africa's
top cycling teams.

It's the tipping point
where the generations to come

will really be able to succeed.

Gasore, he got on the team
just--

he was just passionate
about cycling, saved his money,

finally got a little, you know,
single-speed bike,

and the first time I tested him,
he was just off the charts.

He's gotta get a bike.

With Adrien
the star of the team,

Adrien came back and they just
absolutely connected,

and because of it,
he's improved.

To have someone from the east
and someone from the north,

you know,

be such good friends

is a feat.

They could have been
mortal enemies.

Their--even their regions were

places where they fought.

For cyclists or any sport,
you don't have to separate.

You have to be together.

Hoo!

I mean,
for Gasore to see Adrien,

that is his way that he realizes
it's possible.

That is his hope,

and he sees it in what is
becoming his best friend.

The Continental Championships
in 2010--

Rwanda bid for
and got it,

and this was
a Olympic selection race

for the 2012 London Olympics.

And it was really important
that Rwanda had it

'cause then we would have
a home advantage.

We could put all eight riders
into the race.

That would help Adrien
because he would have

a lot more rider support
for the race.

Winning this race or even
qualifying for the Olympics

would completely change
Adrien's life.

It would put him on the map.

It would change it
not just financially

but also give the country
another real hope

for cycling in their future.

Yeah, if I get
this selection,

I don't know how I can say,

it's gonna be amazing for me.

You know, the professional
peloton's a tough place to be,

and the guys are fighting
for the win.

They want to take all the money,

so if there's a new rider
that's in their way,

they just push him around.

At this championships,
the first two nations

will qualify
for the Olympic Games,

so what Adrien needs to do is go
for the first eight positions,

'cause anything can happen.

It happens regularly
that I'm in a race

and my friend is down the road

and I've actually got to ride
against one of my best friends.

And it's the same here.

This might be my only shot,

this might be his only shot
at the Olympics,

and it would change my life
as well.

Whoever gets to the end
deserves to be there.

There's no hiding on this course
whatsoever.

[unintelligible]

I instructed the riders
that every breakaway,

every time somebody tries
to go off the front,

that there's gotta be a Rwandan
in each group,

otherwise we would have
the burden

of trying to catch
that group.

Gasore in the front group
is part of that strategy.

Gasore being in front
so early in the race

would kind of make it
almost impossible for him

to win the race,

but it serves a big purpose
for Adrien

not having to chase or work
for that group.

The pack catches Gasore,

and there's a counter attack.

Adrien is in the counter attack.

Gasore is between
the counter attack

and going in the back.

Adrien is in the front group,

we got Dan Craven
from Namibia,

we've got
a couple South Africans.

This is the group that will
go to the finish line.

The winner of the race
is in this group.

When the first group comes
through and I don't see Adrien,

my heart is just,
oh my goodness,

something mechanical happened.

Adrien pushes through the final
climb, and as he shifts gears,

his chain fractures
and snaps in half.

As Gasore rounds the corner,
he finds Adrien

and knows his friend's chances
of a top finish

are diminishing
by the second.

Without a moment's hesitation,

Gasore gives his bike to Adrien

and gives up his own chances
of a top finish.

In competitive cycling, bikes
are strategically calibrated

for specific riders.

To maximize his power,

Adrien must simultaneously
adjust Gasore's seat height

while trying to overcome
a nearly insurmountable loss

of 60 seconds.

A minute on two laps to go,
it's huge.

It's almost impossible.

Adrien catches the pack,
and as he catches the pack,

the winning break
of three riders go.

Dan got second
and got the Olympic bid.

Dan was happy
but also disappointed,

because, you know,
Adrien is one of his heroes.

Team Rwanda's
not just about biking,

it's about relationships.

It's about reconciliation.

It's about groups of people
that, in another situation,

wouldn't get along,

but in this
particular situation,

they're allies,
they're best friends,

and they become
lifelong friends.

I didn't get my hopes up,

I knew that possibility
was there.

Adrien is--
he's a remarkable young man

that can weather through things.

He crossed the finish line
and got the Olympic bid.

Immediately,
it went on the radio in Rwanda

and...

the whole country rejoiced.

[speaking foreign language]

The Olympics for him
will be a culmination

of a big journey,

but also the start
of a new one.

Everything else, whether
it's trophies or anything,

really doesn't have any value
if you--

unless you can use it
to something

to better other people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to London

and to the Games
of the 30th Olympiad.

Yeah, no matter what
you do in life,

if you can do somethin'
like this...

you've done somethin'.

You've done somethin'
of value.

Rider number 44,
representing Rwanda,

Adrien Niyonshuti!

And the cheers ring out
for Adrien Niyonshuti,

the man who exemplifies
the Olympic spirit.

A great story
behind this rider

coming from Rwanda to compete
at the Olympic Games.

And here he comes,
the fairytale continues

for the man from Rwanda,

the man with the amazing story,

Adrien Niyonshuti.