Land of Second Chances The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team

"His meticulously researched work merits a wider audience than appealing to devotees of the biking fraternity – and will surely get one…. A good cycling tale and this one is a cracker"

"Fascinating... not a typical rags to riches, triumph against adversity tale... Lewis does a fine job of unpicking a tangled narrative" Observer "A remarkable story... attempts to import the Lycra-clad, precision-engineered world of the Tour de France into rural Africa form the heart of this absorbing book...Team Rwanda's story could have been edited into an uplifting tale of unlikely success, with Niynoshuti's Olympic appearance as the rousing finale. Instead this is a more complicated, darker, account." Financial Times "A century after the Race for Africa ended, a century after Imperial Europe carved up Africa into colonial enclaves, the race is on to find Africa's first black world-class cyclist. Land of Second Chances is an important chronicle of just some of the early stages of that race. It's not just a book about what has happened in the past, it's a book about what is just around the corner for cycling as the long, slow project of mondialisation approaches another milestone. If being a fantastic read isn't enough for you then that ought be a good reason to read Lewis's book" Podium Cafe "This is not a book solely about cycling. it is a book that combines hope with tragedy and success with failure. But ultimately it's a book that holds a mirror to our western sporting ideals" Washing Machine Post "Lewis is a reporter of rare skill and he writes with wit and verve. It is by turns horrifying, moving and unexpectedly funny. It's also the sports book of the year by a backcountry mile" -- Alex Bilmes Esquire