A mountain to climb

Rwanda will forever be synonymous with genocide. But, 15 years on, the land of 1,000 hills is producing some of the best cyclists in Africa. Now Team Rwanda have the Tour de France in their sights, and they are determined to make their country famous for a positive reason

Team Rwanda on a training session near Musanze in the north of the country in February 2009. Photograph: Riccardo Gangale

There was a moment when Jock Boyer realised just how much cycling talent there is in Rwanda. Boyer, once the first American to ride the Tour de France and now the first coach of the Rwandan national cycling team, was leading his team of professionals up a steep, winding hill.

That may be about to change. Team Rwanda is this tiny central African country's first ever professional cycling team, and it has grand ambitions: competing in the 2012 London Olympics and, eventually, securing a place in Le Tour.