A real sensation has occurred at the 2024 Tour de France! 3 of the 12 stages of the multi-day race were won by the Eritrean rider Binyam Girmay. The 24-year-old athlete, who has never picked stars from the sky, is unexpectedly better than the main favourites in the Big Loop.
At the Tour de France, Ghirmay has already achieved several historic feats and is now on his way to taking the lead in the points classification. These are miracles!
Star of Eritrea
Biniyam Girmaya had to endure a difficult path to shine at the 2024 Tour de France. The rider was born in the African country of Eritrea, one of the poorest in the world. Binyam’s father was a true cycling fan. He and his son watched the Tour de France every year and told the boy about the prestige and complexity of the sport. It is no wonder that little Girmaya was eager to ride a bike.
His cousin Meron Temoshe, who was also a cyclist, had a special influence on the young athlete. He motivated Binyam and later even helped him get into the UCI programme to develop talented athletes from third world countries.
Binyam Girmay
Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images
In 2018, Girmay became a three-time African Youth Champion and a year later he claimed his first professional victory, winning the third stage of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo stage race as part of the Eritrean national team.
In 2020, Binyam won silver at the U23 World Youth Championships, Africa’s first medal at such a tournament. A year later, the Eritrean rider signed a contract with the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team, for which he still competes.
Since then, Girmaya’s results have steadily improved. In 2022, he became the first black athlete to win a stage of the Ghent-Wevelgem and Giro d’Italia stage races. Admittedly, the triumphant celebration was then overshadowed by an absurd injury on the podium.
Girmay celebrated his victory so much that he ended up in the hospital:
MY GOD
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In 2023, Binyam became a full member of his team. He won one of the stages of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and the Tour of Switzerland, and also took third place in the seventh stage of the Tour de France.
The Eritrean rider has made a good start to the 2024 season. At the Tour Down Under, Girmay finished second in the points classification and at the Surf Coast Classic he was first. Bignyam was supposed to shine at the Giro d’Italia, but the athlete crashed into the wreckage at the start of the stage race and withdrew from the competition due to a hip injury. However, 10 days after the injury, the African won the one-day race on the Franco-Belgian Circuit.
“A great motivation for my entire career”
Despite such an excellent start to the season, Girmay was not considered by anyone among the favourites for the 2024 Tour de France. Binyam was often among the medallists, but was never able to reach the elite of world cycling.
But everything changed at the “Big Loop”. The Eritrean rider made history already in the third stage of the stage race. Girmay achieved a beautiful victory in the sprint at the finish line, becoming the first black athlete to win the Tour de France.
Binyam Girmay
Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images
“Now everyone will believe that African cyclists can succeed. We should be proud of ourselves. This is our moment, now we are part of the big game,” the winner told The Guardian.
Binyam’s triumph did not end there. On the sixth stage, the Eritrean finished second, losing only to Dylan Groenewegen, and took the lead in the points classification. And already on the eighth stage, Girmay scored a double, finishing first again. Now the 24-year-old is the only athlete to have won two stages of the Tour de France before the first rest day.
“Winning two races is incredible. I have to say thank you to God for everything. I must dedicate this victory to my mother and father, they believed in me and gave me all the support I needed to become a professional cyclist. I am so proud!” Girmay admitted after the finish.
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And then it all happened again. On the tenth stage of the “Big Loop”, Binyam took second place, losing to Jesper Philipsen, and already on the twelfth stage, the Eritrean scored a hat-trick, winning in the most difficult sprint. Thanks to an excellent run by his teammate Mike Theunissen, Girmay overtook Wout van Aert and Pascal Ackermann at the finish line. The dramatic fall of one of the leaders, Tadej Pogačar, also played into the winner’s hands.
“Winning three stages… I knew how difficult it is to win any stage in professional racing, but to do it at the Tour de France is a huge motivation for the rest of my career. I’m in the best shape of my life right now. I wake up, look in the mirror in the morning and say, ‘Let’s do this again. ’”
Binyam Girmay
Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
“I am the only black rider in the peloton this year, which is disappointing to be honest, so I wish there were more people like me. I don’t consider cycling to be as global a sport as others, so I am very happy to show that cycling has become more global and multinational. I have noticed that more and more people from other continents than Europe are appearing in the peloton. My victories will have a good impact on cycling, especially in Africa,” Girmay explained to Eurosport.
Binyam now leads the points standings. He has a lead of 107 points over his closest rival, Jesper Philipsen. If the Eritrean rider manages to stay in the top six and win, he will have every chance of creating a sensation of a level never seen before at the Tour de France.
