Biniam Girmay
Biniam on the podium, GP de Québec, Sept 2022
Personal information
Full nameBiniam Girmay Hailu
Born (2000-04-02) 2 April 2000
Asmara, Eritrea
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Team information
Current teamIntermarché–Wanty
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider type
Amateur team
2018–2019World Cycling Centre
Professional teams
2020–2021Nippo–Delko–One Provence[1]
2021–Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
1 individual stage (2022)

One-day races and Classics

National Time Trial Championships (2022)
Gent–Wevelgem (2022)
Medal record
Representing  Eritrea
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2021 FlandersUnder-23 road race

Biniam Girmay Hailu (born 2 April 2000) is an Eritrean professional road cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Intermarché–Wanty.[2][3]

At the 2022 Giro d'Italia, he became the first Black African cyclist to win a Grand Tour stage after winning stage 10 in a reduced bunch sprint.[4]

Career

After discovering cycling through his cousin Meron Teshome, Biniam joined the World Cycling Centre in 2018 for his second junior year.[5] That year, he became a triple junior cycling champion of Africa, winning the road race, time trial and team time trial. He also won the first stage of Aubel–Thimister–Stavelot, beating out favorite Remco Evenepoel.[6]

In 2019, with the Eritrea national team, he won the third stage in a sprint of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, his first professional victory.[7] This made Biniam the first cyclist born in the 2000s to win a professional race. His success continued, winning stage 5 of the Tour of Rwanda in a sprint against experienced riders, including Joseph Areruya and Daniel Turek who finished 2nd and 3rd.[8]

For the 2020 season, Biniam joined UCI ProTeam Nippo–Delko–One Provence, with whom he finished second in the Trofeo Laigueglia and the Tour du Doubs.

After he was let go by Delko earlier in the year, Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux announced his signing on 6 August 2021.[2][3] He made his debut for his new team days later at the 2021 Tour de Pologne.[9]

On 24 September 2021, he finished second in the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships, becoming the first black African rider to achieve a podium finish in the history of the UCI Road World Championships.[10]

On 27 March 2022, in Gent–Wevelgem, Biniam was part of the winning breakaway, which also included Christophe Laporte, Jasper Stuyven, and Dries Van Gestel. In the finale, he was the first to launch his sprint, coming from the back of the group, and held on for the victory. In doing so, he became the first African winner of a classic cycle race.[11][12]

Later that season, Biniam rode his first Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia. On stage 1, he finished second to Mathieu van der Poel in an uphill sprint.[13] Towards the next eight stages, he amassed four top five finishes in bunch sprints as well as a breakaway stage. On stage 10, in a reduced bunch sprint, he outsprinted van der Poel in a long sprint to win his first Grand Tour stage. He made history as he became the first Black African cyclist to win a stage at a Grand Tour.[4] However, at the podium, as Biniam was opening the bottle of Prosecco, the wine cork hit his left eye at full speed. He was checked by race and team doctors before being sent to the hospital for treatment.[14] The following day, Biniam confirmed that he would abandon the Giro in order to let his eye injury fully heal.[15]

Girmay at the 2023 Tour de France

Biniam began the 2023 season racing in Spain, and had his first win of the year on stage 1 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.[16] After a lack of results in the spring, he won the second stage of the 2023 Tour de Suisse, outsprinting Arnaud Démare and Wout van Aert.[17] He entered his first Tour de France in 2023 as the team leader for Intermarché–Circus–Wanty, placing third in a sprint finish on stage 7.[18] He was one of only two African riders alongside Louis Meintjes as well as the only black rider to compete in the race.[19]

Major results

Source: [20]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2022 2023
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia DNF
A yellow jersey Tour de France 125
A red jersey Vuelta a España

Classics results timeline

Monument 2020 2021 2022 2023
Milan–San Remo 12 28
Tour of Flanders DNF
Paris–Roubaix NH
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Giro di Lombardia
Classic 2020 2021 2022 2023
Milano–Torino 10 18
E3 Saxo Bank Classic NH 5 DNF
Gent–Wevelgem 1 97
Bretagne Classic 96 DNF 6 DNF
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec Not held 3 37
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal DNF DNF
Paris–Tours 20 14
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References

  1. "Nippo Delko Provence". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux". Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Girmay Hailu joins the team with immediate effect". Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Fletcher, Patrick (17 May 2022). "Giro d'Italia: Biniam Girmay becomes first Black African rider to win a Grand Tour stage". CyclingNews. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  5. "Biniam Hailu, le vélo en famille". DirectVelo.com. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  6. "Cyclisme: un surprenant Erythréen bat Evenepoel à Aubel" [Cycling: a surprising Eritrean beats Evenepoel in Aubel]. LaProvince (in French). 8 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  7. Floyd, Tom (23 January 2019). "Tropicale Amissa Bongo étape 3: le tout jeune Biniyam Ghirmay s'offre une grande première" [Tropical Amissa Bongo Stage 3: The very young Biniyam Ghirmay gets a great first] (in French). Cyclismepro.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  8. Berhanu, Markos (2 March 2019). "Eritrean Biniam Girmay takes Stage five as Kudus retains the yellow jersey". Ethiosports.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  9. "Debut for Ghirmay Hailu". Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  10. Fletcher, Patrick (24 September 2021). "Biniam Girmay: Worlds silver is for Eritrea and for Africa". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  11. "Biniam Girmay: Eritrean becomes first African to win a one-day classic with Gent-Wevelgem victory". BBC Sport. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  12. Puddicombe, Stephen; Ostanek, Daniel (27 March 2022). "Biniam Girmay wins Gent-Wevelgem". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  13. Ostanek, Daniel (6 May 2022). "Giro d'Italia: Mathieu van der Poel wins crash-marred uphill sprint in Visegrád". CyclingNews. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  14. Becket, Adam (17 May 2022). "Biniam Girmay's stage 11 start in question after podium mishap". CyclingWeekly. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  15. Giuliani, Simone; Farrand, Stephen; Ryan, Barry (18 May 2022). "Girmay out of Giro d'Italia after podium eye injury". CyclingNews. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  16. Farrand, Stephen (1 February 2023). "Biniam Girmay storms to stage 1 sprint victory at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana". CyclingNews.
  17. Fotheringham, Alasdair (12 June 2023). "Tour de Suisse: Girmay grabs stage 2 sprint victory ahead of Démare, Van Aert". CyclingNews. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  18. Weislo, Laura (7 July 2023). "Tour de France: Philipsen denies Cavendish, completes hat-trick in Bordeaux". Cycling News. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  19. Harding, Jonathan (29 June 2023). "Biniam Girmay: Tour de France history maker". dw.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  20. "Biniam Girmay career achievements". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
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