Africa made sports history on Monday. A bit unnoticeable, but nonetheless The 24-year-old Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay became the first black African ever to win a stage of Tour de France.
Girmay won the mass sprint, which decided the third stage of this year's Tour - the one between Piacenza and Torino. Never before in the 121-year history of the race has a black rider crossed the line first.
"Ever since I started cycling, I've dreamed of Tour de France", Girmay tells British The Guardian.
"But to win in the second Tour I'm participating in is unbelievable. It means a lot, both to me personally and to the African continent”, he continues.
Eritrea love for cycling Biniam Girmay was born in Eritrea's capital Asmara, where cycling is the biggest passion - almost unique in Africa. This is because Eritrea in the northeastern part of the continent has a past as an Italian colony. And back in the 1930s Asmara was a romp for many Italian cycling enthusiasts. The reason was not the least, that the city is on a plain. Where the mountainous terrain and the dry climate made the area ideal for cycling.
Today, long after the Italian colonial masters have been thrown out of Eritrea, the love of cycling continues. And many Eritreans practice it.
In 2015, the two Eritreans Daniel Teklehaimanot and Merhawi Kudus became the first Africans to participate in the Tour de France. And the same year, Teklehaimanot became the first African to secure the tour's dotted mountain jersey, which he wore for four days.
Biniam Girmay, yesterday's stage winner, was encouraged to do cycling in the childhood home in Asmara. As he explains:
"I remember my father loved watching the Tour every single July. He always showed us the Tour de France on tv. One day I asked him if it was possible to participate in the Tour, and he said 'Keep going and everything is possible'".
In 2019, Biniam Girmay won the third stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, an African cycling race conducted in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. In 2022, Girmay became the first black African to win a stage in Giro d’Italia. And yesterday he won the third stage of Tour de France - in front of stars like Belgian Jasper Philipsen, Dutch Dylan Groenwegen and our own Mads Pedersen.
Photo: Biniam Girmay's stage victory in Turin. (Daniel Cole/AP)
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