Tour de France: Biniam Girmay is the first Eritrean to win a Tour stage

Biniam Girmay is the first professional cyclist from Eritrea to win a stage of the Tour de France. The 24-year-old seemed unstoppable on the third day of the Tour and crossed the finish line ahead of Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Belgian Arnaud de Lie. It is also the first Tour victory for Girmay’s Intermarché team.

In the shadow of the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, where the stage ended, Girmay was initially speechless. “I can’t believe I’ve won on my second participation in the Tour de France,” he said, expressing his religious gratitude. He also dedicated the victory to his compatriots and his family.

“Always good for a surprise”

“It means a lot to me, especially for the continent,” said Girmay, who, with his biggest career win to date, becomes the first professional cyclist from Eritrea and the first black rider from an African country to win a stage. Girmay is from Asmara, the capital of the East African country of Eritrea. The country is economically one of the poorest in the world.

“When I started cycling, I could never have imagined that I would be competing in the Tour de France,” said Girmay. He came to Europe through the development program of the world cycling association UCI in order to eventually start out as a professional.

In 2022, Girmay had already celebrated special successes when he won the Gent-Wevelgem race and a stage of the Giro d’Italia. Unfortunately, he then had to leave the tour because he shot a champagne cork into his eye during the award ceremony. His German teammate Georg Zimmermann praised his colleague after his latest victory: He is “always good for a surprise”.

An ambassador for cycling

The sports director of Girmay’s team, Aike Visbeek, was also enthusiastic: “This is very important for his whole country.” Visbeek hopes that the “ambassador” Girmay will get more people from his homeland involved in cycling.

© ZEIT ONLINE

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The third stage previously covered 230.8 fairly flat kilometers from Piacenza to Turin and ended in a hectic final sprint. Richard Carapaz took over the yellow jersey for the overall leader, while star Tadej Pogačar had to give it up because he was a few places behind Carapaz on the sprint stage. At the start of the Tour, the field is usually still close together, but the overall ranking is likely to become more even in the coming stages.

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Biniam Girmay is the first professional cyclist from Eritrea to win a stage of the Tour de France. The 24-year-old seemed unstoppable on the third day of the Tour and crossed the finish line ahead of Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Belgian Arnaud de Lie. It is also the first Tour victory for Girmay’s Intermarché team.

In the shadow of the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, where the stage ended, Girmay was initially speechless. “I can’t believe I’ve won on my second participation in the Tour de France,” he said, expressing his religious gratitude. He also dedicated the victory to his compatriots and his family.