Episode 10 Inspire: The Olympic Journey

Who are ugly? We are team Rwanda! -- who are we? In 1994 this country was

torn apart by a genocide that killed over 1 million people. Since then it

has gone through a massive transformation and one event

encapsulates the recovery that the country has seen. It is an unlikely

story. A cycling race that has become the focus for a country. A

team that has emerged from one of the worst chapters of human history

and is now providing hope. A bicycle can change the direction of the life

permanently. Inspiration. And the future. Everything you want to do

you have in your heart, you can change your life.

SINGING. The tour of Rwanda began in 1989 had has become one of the best

races in Africa. Cyclists come from around the world to take part. At

its heart a group of riders was placed in the

its heart a group of riders was been almost unthinkable a

its heart a group of riders was who watched the tour over its

journey with the who watched the tour over its

reserved for their new heroes, team Rwanda.

I am Rwanda.

the prizes are being given out. I was

the prizes are being given out. I out in their thousands. Villages

the prizes are being given out. I towns, just the odd little

the prizes are being given out. I Watching the tour had from the

capital into Watching the tour had from the

seeing how people responded to the cyclists was inspiring. Particularly

when I thought back to the events of 1994. 20 kilometres from the finish

line was a powerful reminder. 45,000 tootsies came to their local school

seeking sanctuary. But on one night in April it became anything but.

They came at three o'clock in the morning, that is when they attacked.

The thing I am struggling with a little bit is that the country has

come out of that so quickly and people seem to have moved on so

quickly from it. My visit to the school left a

lasting impression. What happened there was shocking. The numbers of

people who died, unbelievable. But the same time I heard a powerful

message of the country trying to move forward. Being at this sport

event which has such an impact, and yet one hour later you are wandering

around the site of such a terrible atrocity, it is hard to keep your

emotions in check. The thing that struck me most is there proud of

their country. They want to be Rwandans, to see the flag flying and

people wearing the shirt. Perhaps in the Olympic Games or Commonwealth

Games. They want to see a better image of the country, not one that

is still hankering back to 1994. They have moved on and they want us

to move on with them as well. Cycling is nothing new here. Every

work you look there are bicycles but until 2007 there was no racing, no

team. The idea of cycling as a sport did not really exist. It took an

American charity bringing mountain bikes to coffee farmers to do

something quite ground-breaking. What has been achieved here has

never been seen anywhere before. From a cycling nation that came from

zero to where we are. How can a country that has never been in

cycling have the best race in Africa, with a budget that is

minimal impaired to these countries that have cycling as their

mainstay? Whether it is Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, they have

riders that have been there for decades. And the culture of cycling

here has only been in the last couple of years. It has not been

easy. Creating a team from scratch in a country still coming to terms

with its past and with no real history of sporting achievement has

had real challenges. A lot of things we did not realise is how important

education is. Not just about a bicycle team, we had to redesign the

whole diet. Working with a lot of young men who have gone through

trauma, that was entirely different. That is not something normal team

has to deal with you have to start from zero and basically create a

culture. We have about 20 minutes before the start of the race and

rather touchingly we're having team photograph. I'm not sure if people

would expect them to be more stressed out, warming up, getting

ready for a race. I wish I had been like that for the start of a race!

We will just get the traffic moving. We are heading to see one of the

original members of the team, Adrian Nealon should you. His name is all

over Rwanda. He is a bit of a local hero. Adrian is a success story of

team Rwanda, he now writes for the best team in South Africa and went

to the Olympic Games in London. During the genocide five of his

brothers and his sister were killed. The bicycle really has changed his

life. It is an inspiration for a lot of people in Rwanda. Today I

finished a stage and a lot of people came to say well done and that they

were big fans. And they think what you did was an inspiration. A

nightly open the door for everyone because like all blossoming sports

you have to have a hero and without that the kids have no point of

reference of where they are going to go. Adrian is there ignition point.

That is where they think, he did it so I can do it. He is Rwanda and I

am Rwandan and he started with the incredible tragedy of that past and

now he is doing it. Adrian is one of the first riders in Rwanda. He is

very strong. He could ride in the Tour de France because they have the

good team. I hope so. Everyone knows about Rwanda and the genocide.

People say Rwanda is still not good. But it is safe. It is amazing.

Adrian was the first, an inspiration. And he has shown how

Team Rwanda is not just about the bike. None of the cyclists are rich

but are paid a monthly salary and many have managed to buy a house, a

massive achievement here. Becoming a cyclist is now up profession. -- a

profession. We have ten riders on the team that

have houses and they are in their 20s. You just cannot do that, it

takes generations to buy a house here and we have 20-year-olds who

through their race winnings have been able to support their families,

have electricity, cement flooring, even running water.

Here comes the main peloton. This is brutal. A real boneshaker of a

section. If we go back to 1994, a bicycle meant you might escape the

genocide. You come back to after the genocide. If you had a bike you

could transport people, you had an income. Now you have a whole

generation looking at cycling to actually be able to succeed. Racing

cycling. It is putting people together that would have been

enemies during the genocide. The team is all Rwandan. It consists of

people from all regions and all different areas. They have to work

together for it to succeed. You think cycling is helping people

forget what happened? No home winner today but it has been

an incredible event and a real eye-opener for me. The amount of

people out to support this Tour of Rwanda has been incredible. They

obviously love this sport. They do not have a winner to cheer today but

I'm sure they will sometime in the future. In the meantime it is Adrian

who the rest of the cyclists are having to chase. As my time drew to

a close in Rwanda I was struck by something that Nelson Mandela once

said. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is

not a grandiose statement, it is not difficult to see how this incredible

team embodies the pride and hope of a nation whose progress in such a

short space of time is in itself remarkable.

This week, Britain has voted for its Members of the European Parliament.

What will the result tell us about the political mood here in Britain

of the results both here and across Europe.