Biniam Girmay, Africa’s leading professional cyclist and one of the favourites for the world championships road race in Glasgow on Sunday, is understood to have been denied a UK visa by the Home Office.
The Eritrean, a stage winner in the Giro d’Italia and also winner of the Gent-Wevelgem in Belgium, finished the Tour de France on 23 July. He immediately continued his pursuit of a visa to enable him to race in what the sport’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has called the “Super Worlds”.
