Biniam Girmay: Emotional Eritrean says historic stage victory at Tour de France is ‘for all Africa’ – Eurosport

Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) declared his historic victory at the Tour de France was “for all Africa” in an emotional post-race interview.

The trailblazing Eritrean found the perfect line to see off Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) in the sprint, with pre-stage favourite Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) missing out after his chief lead-out rider Mathieu van der Poel suffered a late mechanical.

“Since I started cycling, I never dreamed I’d be part of the Tour de France,” said Girmay.

“Now I can’t believe it, to win at the Tour de France in my second year in the big bunch sprint, it was unbelievable.

“I just want to say thank you to my family, my wife, all the Eritreans and Africans. We must be proud, now we are really part of the big races. It’s our moment, it’s our time.”

He added: “It’s for all Africa. I’m just super happy.”

Victory moved Girmay up to second in the battle for the green jersey, 10 points behind leader Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).

However, his win at the Giro was marred after he was hit in the eye by a Prosecco cork during his podium celebrations, forcing him to go to hospital and abandon the race.

But the 24-year-old has come good again, with 12-time Tour de France stage winner Robbie McEwen saluting his heroics on The Breakaway.

“It shows you that talent comes from absolutely everywhere,” he said. “Winning at the Giro, winning Gent-Wevelgem. They were firsts in their own right.

“But think back two months ago in the Giro, he was in that massive crash, massive gash on his hip. He limped out of the race and it all looked to be going so badly for Biniam Girmay.

“Eight weeks on, he’s standing on the podium of the Tour de France as a stage winner. His powers of recovery, his resilience and just his pure talent…”