The Tour de France’s first black African stage winner is Biniam Girmay.
Although the death of 25-year-old Norwegian André Drege during stage four of the Tour of Austria overshadowed his victory in 2024, many nevertheless celebrated his achievement.
The Eritrean rider won the bunch kick from Jasper Philipsen in second place and Arnaud De Lie in third, setting up Biniam Germany’s historic second sprint victory at the Tour de France on stage 8 in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.
Girmay has already made history at the Tour de France as the first Black African to claim a stage when he sprinted to victory on stage 3, only days before Mark Cavendish broke the all-time record for stage wins.
Girmay appeared to be trapped on the slight climb leading to the finishing straight; thus, he found himself in the path of Bryan Coquard’s early attack.
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In the last few hundred meters, Philipsen appeared to pass both Girmay and Coquard, but Girmay made a comeback and finished just ahead of the Belgian.
With five kilometers remaining, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), the only rider wearing a polka-dot jersey, pulled into a solitary breakaway, making the overall stage for the sprinters surprisingly orderly.
“Girmay, overcome with emotion, exclaimed, “Thank God for everything,” as soon as he finished the stage.
“I believe I owe my father and mother this win. They have faith in me. They provided me with all the assistance I needed to become a professional cyclist; therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to my family.
A very pleased Biniam Girmay contended that he benefited from the closing kilometers’ gentle undulations.
“I prefer this kind of sprint because if it’s really flat, the other guys are bigger than me and heavier, so they can push more watts, so they can go faster. But these finishes for me, with my weight, are super nice. The team put me in the perfect place. They have me a good lead-out; I just felt super good,” he continued.
Speaking about the specifics of the finish, Biniam said, it was a really fast downhill and then slightly up.
With several significant efforts behind the sprinters, Girmay felt confident that his fatigue was less than that of his faster rivals.
“So when we go slightly up again, I feel like it was super hard and then I knew—I think now it’s going to be my day because everybody was already stretched out in one line.”
There was especially great joy for the Eritrean rider, who had won while donning the green jersey.
It appears that Biniam Girmay will hold onto the lead for the foreseeable future.
