A new star shines in the African cycling sky: Biniam Girmay. His star has been shining since last autumn, when he finished second in the World Championship U23 road race. This brought him the second time in a row – the honor of Africa’s Cyclist of the Year.
“Important win for the team and Africa”
“Biniam Girmay is the most promising cyclist from Africa. He has already beaten André Greipel in the sprint. His performance at the World Championships was no coincidence. You will hear a lot about him in the future.”explained the French cycling legend Bernard Hinault, who was a member of the jury. The five times Tour de France-Sieger was right with his forecast. On Sunday (09/27/22) Girmay won the important spring classic Gent-Wevelgem in the sprint of a four-man leading group.
“I can not believe it”said the 21-year-old professional cyclist from Eritrea afterwards – and then quickly found the words that were appropriate to the historic event: “It’s an important win for me, for my team and for Africa.”
In fact, it is the first WorldTour victory by a black African athlete. Chris Froome, who was born in Kenya and later competed first for South Africa and then for Great Britain, has won quite a few more WorldTour races. But he went down in cycling history as the “white Kenyan”. In any case, he had his greatest triumphs as a Brit.
Eritrea – runner’s paradise and cycling country
One of the poorest countries in the world, Eritrea, as a former Italian colony, has a great passion for cycling. Daniel Teklehaimanot, Girmay’s compatriot twelve years older than him, wore the mountain jersey for a few days seven years ago in the Tour de France. The broadcasts of the stages took place in packed cinemas.
At that time, Teklehaimanot brought Eritrea’s runner country into the focus of European cycling as a potential climber’s paradise. First reports about the passion for cycling in Eritrea appeared. “Every weekend we have a race in the youth categories, every two months around Asmara”Girmay described the impressive racing scene in his home country in a zoom interview from the training camp of his racing team Intermarché Wanty Gobert.
“To be seen at the right moment”
After all, the country now has 16 professionals in road cycling, three of them in the WorldTour, one in the ProContinental area and the other twelve in the third category. But the really big victories have been missing so far. According to Girmay, this is also due to a lack of attention from the European racing teams. “There are so many good cyclists in Eritrea, so much passion. But you also have to be lucky. You have to be seen at the right moment.”he said.
The right moments are the big African races like the Tour of Rwanda or the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon. Racing teams from Europe also take part in these races, scouts open their eyes. Hardly anyone comes to the smaller races, complained Girmay. “If we want more black riders, European Continental racing teams need to pay more attention to African cycling”he demanded.
Support from UCI junior academy
Girmay himself was an 18-year-old World Cycling Center of the world cycling federation UCI in aigle. Talents from numerous nations are promoted there. “I learned a lot there. Because the switch from African races to Europe is very big.”, Girmay looked back at the beginning. That affected basic things like the climate, but also food, training scope and positioning in the races. He doesn’t put that much emphasis on basic training. In Eritrea, people like to do the things they like, especially the high intensities.”told Luc ChelianGirmay’s trainer during his time at the now defunct French racing team Delko, in conversation with the site directvelo.
In the meantime, Girmay should also have increased in basic training. Because the success at Gent-Wevelgem only confirmed the good form that Girmay had already shown in the first weeks of the season. He won the Alcudia Trophya race of Majorca–challengesseries, leaving men top sprinters like Pascal Ackermann and Michael Matthews2017 winner of the Green Jersey at the Tour de France, behind. He finished in the top 10 three times on the Paris-Nice long-distance race and came twelfth in the Milan-Sanremo classic.