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Biniam Girmay
Professional Eritrean bicycle racer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 2024 Tour de France, Biniam won the Green Jersey[4] becoming the first African to win any jersey at the Tour. At the same Tour, he made history by becoming the first black African rider to win a Tour de France stage[5] – he won stages 3,[6] 8,[7] and 12.[8]
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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.[9]
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Career
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Early life and career
Biniam comes from a cycling family, having watched the Tour de France with his carpenter father on television each year; both his brother and his cousin, Meron Teshome, are also professional cyclists.[10]
At 12 years old, Biniam won his first mountain bike competition, and in his teens he was selected to represent Eritrea as a junior in the African Championships, where he attracted the attention of a UCI scout, who invited him to train at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland.[10]
Biniam left Eritrea and moved to Switzerland to join the WCC in 2018 for his second junior year.[11] 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 favourite Remco Evenepoel.[12]
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.[13] This made Biniam the first cyclist born in the 2000s to win a professional race. His success continued, winning stage 5 of the Tour du Rwanda in a sprint against experienced riders, including Joseph Areruya and Daniel Turek who finished 2nd and 3rd.[14]
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.
Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux (2021–present)
After he was let go by Delko (who subsequently folded)[10] 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 Tour de Pologne.[15]
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.[16]
2022
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.[17][18]
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.[19] 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.[9] 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.[20] The following day, Biniam confirmed that he would abandon the Giro in order to let his eye injury fully heal.[21]
2023
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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.[22] After a lack of results in the spring, he won the second stage of the Tour de Suisse, outsprinting Arnaud Démare and Wout van Aert.[23] 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.[24] He was one of only two African riders alongside Louis Meintjes as well as the only black rider to compete in the race.[25]
2024
Biniam began his 2024 season at the 2024 Tour Down Under, where he finished second in the points classification.[26] A week later, he obtained his first victory of the season at the Surf Coast Classic in a bunch sprint beating Elia Viviani and Corbin Strong.[27] Biniam was announced as the team leader for Intermarché–Wanty for the 2024 Giro d'Italia.[28] He completed three stages before crashing twice on the rainy fourth day and abandoning the race with a hip injury.[29] He was able to return to racing 10 days later and, in late May, won the Circuit Franco-Belge in a sprint.[30]
He rode in the Tour de France again in 2024 and won the third stage in a bunch sprint. He became the first black African to win a stage at the Tour.[31][32] After stage 5 of the race, Biniam took the lead in the points classification,[33] marking the first time that an African rider has worn the green jersey in the Tour.[34] He took home the win in stage 8 of the race, narrowly beating reigning points classification winner Jasper Philipsen and marking his second stage win in the Tour.[35] Biniam won stage 12 of the Tour for his third stage win, beating Wout Van Aert in the sprint finish.[36][37] He maintained his lead over Phillipsen all the way to Nice to secure the points classification with a 33-point advantage.[38][10] Two days later, he and Intermarche-Wanty announced they had signed a new contract keeping him at the team until the end of 2028, while preparing himself for the 2024's Men's road race at the Olympics.[39]
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Personal life
Biniam is the second son of Girmay Hailu who is from Eritrea and his mother Freweyni, is also from Eritrea. Biniam Girmay has been married to Selam Hizkel since 2021.[10] The couple welcomed their first child in the same year.[40] He and his family currently reside in the French city of Nice.[10]
Biniam regularly attended church when living in Eritrea,[41] and gave thanks to God after his third Tour de France win, remarking 'without God we cannot do anything'.[36]
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Major results
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Source: [42]
- 2018
- African Junior Road Championships
- 1st
Road race - 1st Time trial
- 1st
Team time trial
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland
- 3rd Overall Aubel–Thimister–Stavelot
- 1st Stage 1
- 3rd Trofeo Comune di Vertova
- 4th Trofeo Emilio Paganessi
- 2019 (2 pro wins)
- 1st Stage 3 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
- 1st Stage 5 Tour du Rwanda
- 2020 (2)
- La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stages 3 & 6
- 1st
- 2nd Trofeo Laigueglia
- 2nd Tour du Doubs
- 4th Giro della Toscana
- 2021 (1)
- 1st Classic Grand Besançon Doubs
- 2nd
Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships - 2nd Tour du Doubs
- 5th Gran Piemonte
- 5th Route Adélie
- 6th La Roue Tourangelle
- 7th La Drôme Classic
- 7th Druivenkoers Overijse
- 7th Tour du Jura
- 9th Trofeo Laigueglia
- 2022 (4)
- 1st
Time trial, National Road Championships - 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 1st Trofeo Alcúdia–Port d'Alcúdia
- Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 10
- Held
after Stage 1
- 2nd Grand Prix de Wallonie
- 3rd Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
- 4th Tour du Doubs
- 5th E3 Saxo Bank Classic
- 6th Bretagne Classic
- 7th La Drôme Classic
- 10th Milano–Torino
- 2023 (2)
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stage 1 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 2nd Trofeo Palma
- 3rd Trofeo Ses Salines–Alcúdia
- 4th Brussels Cycling Classic
- 7th Grand Prix de Wallonie
- 7th Paris–Chauny
- 8th Famenne Ardenne Classic
- 2024 (5)
- 1st Circuit Franco-Belge
- 1st Surf Coast Classic
- Tour de France
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stages 3, 8 & 12
- 1st
- 2nd Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
- 2nd Brussels Cycling Classic
- 2nd Binche–Chimay–Binche
- 2nd Rund um Köln
- 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
- 3rd Hamburg Cyclassics
- 4th Grand Prix de Wallonie
- 4th Münsterland Giro
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 9th Antwerp Port Epic
- 2025
- 2nd Classique Dunkerque
- 2nd Rund um Köln
- 4th Trofeo Ses Salines
- 6th Figueira Champions Classic
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 9th Trofeo Palma
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
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References
External links
Wikiwand - on
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