Land of Second Chances, by Tim Lewis – review

This is a book about Rwanda. It’s a book about cycling. But it’s not, in the end, a book about Rwandan cycling.

Well, it is. Tim Lewis gives us the story of Adrien Niyonshuti’s attempts to qualify for the 2012 Olympics under the tutelage of American cycling legend Jock Boyer. Adrien and his teammates are desperate to put Rwanda on the world map for something other than the 1994 genocide. But while the tale has its dramatic moments, it never really bursts into life. It’s too messy for that; as Lewis himself says, ‘situations in Africa are rarely, if ever, neat’. For instance, one of the cyclists refuses to train, being too busy pirating videos for the profitable film showings he organises. Seabiscuit-style ‘underdogs giving their all’ it ain’t.

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This doesn’t mean, however, that the story isn’t worth reading for its component parts.