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(leparisien.fr) “He’s the Tiger Woods of cycling”: Biniam Girmay, the man who brought Africa closer to the Tour de France

Posted by: Semere Asmelash

Date: Sunday, 21 July 2024

“He’s the Tiger Woods of cycling”: Biniam Girmay, the man who brought Africa closer to the Tour de France

The Eritrean, winner of three sprint stages and the green jersey at the final finish in Nice, has shone in the eyes of the world on this Tour. If he felt overwhelmed by all this excitement because he seeks a simple life, he was able to count on his team to protect him.


By Elie Julien ,  special correspondent on the roads of the Tour de France 

July 21 , 2024 at 4:36 p.m.

Biniam Girmay won the green jersey at the 2024 Tour de France. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Biniam Girmay won the green jersey at the 2024 Tour de France. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Perhaps after his coronation in the points classification of the green jersey in Nice, "Bini" will think back to his long, difficult evenings away from his loved ones, when he was staying in the small village of Rians (Var) in the middle of Covid . The young Biniam Girmay who was learning the codes of cycling on the roads of the Var in a French team at only 20 years old and without speaking French - or very good English -, won three stages in the Tour de France . A race that his father spent entire afternoons watching on television from Eritrea when Bini was a teenager. His father would tell him how much stage winners were champions.

He is the champion now. The star even. However, Girmay remains faithful to the (only) French word that he repeated most often when he was training at Delko in 2020 and 2021: "tranquillité". The impressive scenes of jubilation in his country at each of his victories or the supporters he found in each stage city of this Tour de France did not make him get a big head. However, he is one of the faces of this 111th Tour.


TOUR DE FRANCE: BINIAM GIRMAY WELCOMED LIKE A ROCK STAR AT THE FINISH OF THE LAST STAGE IN NICE

Florian Bouhot
THE21/07/2024 at 19:52
Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay concludes this 2024 edition of the Tour de France draped in the green jersey and crowned with three stage victories. On the roadsides as in his country, his supporters are more and more numerous and more and more noisy.

On the X-wire of the Intermarché-Wanty team, there is only him. Biniam Girmay is certainly one of the faces of this Tour de France 2024. The 24-year-old Eritrean rider (Intermarché-Wanty) won the green jersey for best sprinter , a first for an African cyclist. "Veni, vidi, Bini", congratulates his team.

In Turin , on July 1, he also became the first black African to win a stage. A performance repeated twice: in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises and Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

His prowess earned him a rock star welcome in Nice, where the 2024 edition ended on Sunday, July 21. "Bini, Bini, Bini," his supporters sang, waving flags or umbrellas in the colors of Eritrea and improvising little dance steps.

"He put Eritrea on the map

This beautiful sequence of communion obviously did not escape the community manager of the Intermarché-Wanty page. "Biniam Girmay, pride of the country," he wrote, before trying a few words in Eritrean.

"He put Eritrea on the map, you know what I mean?" one of his supporters, sunglasses on his nose, enthuses in a video published by the team. "Bini, I love you,"

At home too, his performances are scrutinised and his exploits followed by scenes of jubilation. "My father told me that in Asmara (capital of Eritrea, editor's note), the crowd was delirious. From 2pm to 5pm, there was no one in the streets, everyone was in front of the Tour de France," he relates with a smile.

A change of dimension

In the space of one edition, his second on a personal level, the Intermarché-Wanty rider has changed dimension. Like a symbol, several major newspapers have displayed him on the front page after his stage victories.

In an interview with L'Équipe , he admits: "It's nice to see my name on the roads, with signs calling me, making big gestures to me. Last year, no one knew me."

Today, "I know that it changes my image," agrees the man in green. "But for the moment, I don't realize to what extent." His return to Asmara will give him a little idea.

Biniam Girmay and Intermarché-Wanty win the green jersey at the Tour de France: “It’s fantastic, with our budget”

The Eritrean and the Belgian team finished this Grand Boucle with three stage victories and a distinctive jersey.CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 STAGE 21-GJ2P3VSNB.1.jpgBELGADefault author image
By Belga
Published on 07/21/2024 at 5:40 p.m.
Winner of three stages, Eritrean Biniam Girmay has taken the green jersey of the points classification of the 111th Tour de France. "We worked incredibly hard for this with the team," commented the sprinter of the Belgian team Intermarché-Wanty.

Girmay only had to finish the final time trial in Nice on Sunday to secure the green jersey. At the finish line, he was greeted by some of his teammates, including Laurenz Rex. For Girmay, 24, and for Intermarché-Wanty, winning the green jersey is an immensely powerful moment. “We have the smallest budget in the WorldTour. So to win three stage wins and the green jersey is really fantastic,” said Girmay, who has been riding for the Walloon outfit since August 2021.

On Saturday, Girmay already celebrated the green jersey by finishing arm in arm with teammates Rex, Mike Teunissen and Hugo Page at the top of the Col de la Couillole. “Honestly, since the beginning of the Tour, I have had incredible teammates. We have had a good atmosphere and a good team spirit. The staff, the team management, the bosses and certainly the riders, I want to say thank you to them. We have worked incredibly hard to protect this jersey. We have given everything we had in us,” concluded Girmay, who is not only the first Eritrean to win the green jersey, but also the first African to win a distinctive jersey on the Grande Boucle.






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