Tracing Nsengimana's rise to cycling stardom

Work hard until you don’t need to introduce yourself - that is what the 2015 Tour du Rwanda champion Jean Bosco Nsengimana has accomplished in a space of three years. Four or so years back, anyone would struggle to know a certain Nsengimana hustling to pave his way up from nothing to a cycling star. Today, he is one of the most celebrated sports personalities in the country after winning the 2015 Tour du Rwanda. The 22-year-old on Sunday became the second Rwandan rider to win the UCI 2.2 category race since it became an international competition in 2009, after compatriot Valens Ndayisenga, who won the Tour du Rwanda 2014 edition. Nsegimana, who is the first champion to bear the yellow jersey from day one up to the end, also set a new record of clocking 3 minutes and 52 seconds to win the 3.5km prologue on November 15. Team Rwanda’s Janvier Hadi won the 2013 prologue with 4:05 before retaining it in 2014 with 4:04. Who is Nsengimana? Born on November 4, 1993 in Jenda sector, Nyabihu District in North-west of Rwanda to Fils Mukeshimana (RIP) and Odette Mukeshimana, Nsengimana is the first born in a family of three — two boys and one girl. Nsengimana, still single, lost his father at a tender age and he was single-handedly raised by his mother. Life hustles forced him to become a commercial cyclist in his native village to take care of his mother and siblings before venturing into cycling as a sport in early 2012. From a rookie to national asset As they say, when you live for a strong purpose then hard work is not an option but a necessity; it didn’t take long for Nsengimana to adapt to professional cycling at Musanze-based Africa Rising Cycling Center and went on to impress and made it to the final 15-man Team Rwanda squad for the 2012 Tour du Rwanda. After one year in cycling, Nsengimana made his breakthrough on international scene at the 2013 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo to finish in a decent 78th position. He has since not looked back, going on to compete in several international and world-class races. Among big competitions he has been in to date include; Amissa Bongo (3 times), Tour of Algeria (2 times), Commonwealth Games 2014 in Scotland, Tour de Rio in Brazil, UCI World Championships U23 in Spain, All Africa Games in Congo-Brazzaville and World Championships in Richmond, USA to mention a few. Tour du Rwanda and Nsengimana Nsengimana, who also won this year’s Rwanda Cycling Cup, made his debut at the annual Tour du Rwanda in 2012 riding for Team Rwanda Akagera finishing 33rd out of 56 cyclists, who completed the race. In 2013, he made notable improvement to finish sixth in general classification and eventually the best Rwandan rider. Last year, he finished second, trailing champion Ndayisenga by 53 seconds. This year, the soft spoken Nsengimana, riding for Team Rwanda Karisimbi, scaled up his performance to prove himself a national treasure to wear the yellow jersey, from day one on November 15 up to the final (7th) stage on November 22. Out of eight stages of the race, he won three, including the prologue, the 4th stage from Muhanga to Musanze, and the sixth stage from Rubavu to Kigali. The Benediction cycling club ace Nsengimana won the 7th edition of Tour du Rwanda with 23:54:50 over a total distance of 928.4 kilometers while compatriots Joseph Areruya and Camera Hakuzimana finished second and third with 23:56:35 and 23:59:20, respectively. Described as a humble man, Nsengimana’s first competition in cycling career was the 2012 Kwita Izina race staged on July 9-10, 2012.

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Tracing Nsengimana's rise to cycling stardom