Biniam Girmay

Biniam Girmay Hailu (born 2 April 2000) is an Eritrean professional road cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . At the 2024 Tour de France, Biniam won the Green Jersey 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 – he won stages 3, 8, and 12.

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.

Career

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.

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.

Biniam left Eritrea and moved to Switzerland to join the WCC in 2018 for his second junior year. 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.

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. 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.

For the 2020 season, Biniam joined UCI ProTeam , 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 (who subsequently folded) earlier in the year, announced his signing on 6 August 2021. He made his debut for his new team days later at the Tour de Pologne.

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.

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.

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. 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. 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. The following day, Biniam confirmed that he would abandon the Giro in order to let his eye injury fully heal.

2023

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. 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. He entered his first Tour de France in 2023 as the team leader for , placing third in a sprint finish on stage 7. He was one of only two African riders alongside Louis Meintjes as well as the only black rider to compete in the race.

2024

Biniam began his 2024 season at the 2024 Tour Down Under, where he finished second in the points classification. 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. Biniam was announced as the team leader for Intermarché–Wanty for the 2024 Giro d'Italia. He completed three stages before crashing twice on the rainy fourth day and abandoning the race with a hip injury. He was able to return to racing 10 days later and, in late May, won the Circuit Franco-Belge in a sprint.

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. After stage 5 of the race, Biniam took the lead in the points classification, marking the first time that an African rider has worn the green jersey in the Tour. 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. Biniam won stage 12 of the Tour for his third stage win, beating Wout Van Aert in the sprint finish. He maintained his lead over Phillipsen all the way to Nice