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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Lucca, ITA |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Dimension Data: South Africa |
General Interest | |
| Awards and honours | He was flag bearer for Rwanda at the opening ceremonies of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. (cyclingnews.com, 17 Mar 2017) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Jonathan Boyer [national], USA |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He discovered his love for cycling after taking part in the Tour of Rwanda as an amateur at age 16. He borrowed an old bicycle from a relative and finished the race in third place. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "Work hard, train hard." (qhubeka.org, 14 Mar 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Coach from which country? | United States |
General Interest | |
| Other information | CYCLING ACADEMY After competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he wanted to offer young people in Rwanda the chance to experience the power of cycling. He officially launched the Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy in August 2013, which is based in Rwamagana, Rwanda. "In 2012, I opened my own academy, and it has been very good as every year there are like four or five guys selected for the national team to travel the world and do races in Africa and Europe. In Africa, we have good cyclists, but we need more involvement and improvement." (cyclingnews.com, 17 Mar 2017, 20 Nov 2015; ancycling.org, 15 Dec 2013) NATIONAL FIRST He became the first cyclist to represent Rwanda in mountain bike at the Olympic Games when he competed at the 2012 Games in London. (teammtnqhubeka.com, 2013) |
| Injuries | He broke his elbow in November 2015, and missed the 2015 Tour of Rwanda. (cyclingnews.com, 20 Nov 2015) In February 2013 he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis [DVT] and had to miss the majority of the season. He made his comeback at the 2013 Tour of Rwanda. (procyclingstats.com, 24 Nov 2013; cyclingnews.com, 13 Nov 2013; teammtnqhubeka.com, 2013) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia. (teammtnqhubeka.com, 2013) |
| Other sports | He has represented Rwanda in mountain bike. He was ranked 39th in the cross-country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 18 Jul 2016; thebikecomesfirst.com, 30 Jun 2016) |
| Hero / Idol | South African mountain bikers Burry Stander and Kevin Evans, British road cyclist Chris Froome. (teammtnqhubeka.com, 2013) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | DriDri (teamafricarising.org, 20 Jun 2016) |
| Ambitions | To become the first Rwandan road cyclist to compete in a Grand Tour. (cyclingnews.com, 17 Mar 2017) |