Rwanda is known as one of the main cycling countries in Africa since the national team was rebuilt with riders who survived the genocide. However women's cycling might be the next big thing in the country, after Jeanne d'Arc Girubuntu went second in the individual time trial of the African Continental Championships, held on Tuesday in Benslimane, Morocco.
The Rwandan athlete, aged 20, lost the gold medal by one second to Namibia's Vera Adrian while South Africa's Samantha Sanders takes third place.
"I am very, very happy," Girubuntu told Cyclingnews. "I was 4th in the African Championships and 5th in the African Games last year, so I can see I have improved a lot."
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Former pro rider Jock Boyer, now Rwanda's national coach, said Girubuntu "is inspirational and paving way to women in Rwanda."
Rwanda has already a role model for men cyclists in Adrian Niyonshuti, 29, a rider at Dimension Data and London 2012 Olympian in the Mountain Bike event. The main character of "Rising From Ashes" documentary movie, became a national hero through sport after he lost 60 people in his family during the genocide, inspired the young generation in Rwanda, including Girubuntu.
Jeanne d'Arc Girubuntu comes from the same town of the pro rider, indeed, Rwamagana, east of the country, and she decided to turn into cycling in 2009 after she watched the Tour of Rwanda, a 2.2 UCI race which is one the most popular in Africa. She joined the Adrian Niyonshuti Cycling Academy and then the national team in 2014.
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