"Let me open the door."
That was the caption on Biniam Girmay's social media post on the first evening of July, after he became the first Black African cyclist in history to win a Tour de France stage. His point: that there is a sea of African talents behind that door, ready to take their place alongside him in the upper echelons of the sport of cycling, and in victory he has created a passage for their ascension.
Girmay went on to win two more Tour stages and set further records, becoming the first Black African to win a classification at the Tour de France. In truth, his achievements traverse a number of different categories. He is the first African to win a jersey, period. Alongside being the first Black rider, he’s also the first rider born in the 2000s - alongside Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) - and of course, the first Eritrean, to achieve it.
The road to Girmay's Tour victories has been long, beginning before he had ever pushed a pedal in ambition. The 24-year-old's success would not have been possible had he not been standing on the shoulders of those who had gone before him.
Eritrea’s long cycling history
The historic 2024 Tour de France came just nine years after the first Black Africans competed in cycling's biggest race. Girmay's countrymen Merhawi Kudus and Daniel Teklehaimanot achieved that particular milestone in 2015 as part of the South African-registered MTN-Qhubeka squad. Teklehaimanot made waves by holding the polka dot jersey for best climber from stages six to eight.
The pair's exploits put fuel to the fire of a nation that has a long cycling history. Bike racing has been part of life in Eritrea since the early 1900s, introduced by the occupying Italians. At first, cycling was segregated, with Eritreans restricted from competing with their colonial rulers until 1939 when a special event was organised between Italians and Eritreans, won by home rider Ghebremariam Gebru and still celebrated to this day.
The first Tour of Eritrea was held in 1946 and Eritreans competed in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1956, 59 years before Kudus and Teklehaimanot took to the Tour, finally representing Black Africans at the elite level of the sport.
Teklehaimanot, Kudus, and others such as Tsgabu Grmay from Ethiopia cracked open the “door” that Girmay speaks of now. They showed that it is possible for Black African riders to make it as professionals and to compete well in the biggest races, inspiring a generation of young hopefuls back home.
At the 2024 Tour de France, Girmay was asked about the impact that Teklehaimanot had on him as a teenager.
“When Daniel won, I said, ‘Maybe this is possible, to be part of this [the Tour] one time," he admitted. "Daniel showed us everything is possible and that we can win stages."
The chain reaction continues with Girmay's further success, not only at the Tour but also with his wins at the Giro d'Italia and Gent-Wevelgem. He has now shown that Black Africans can not only take part but also win the biggest races in cycling.
Ethiopian Grmay, who retired from road racing after February’s Tour du Rwanda after eleven years as a professional in Europe, felt the significance of the moment as Girmay held his hands aloft in the Tour’s third stage to Turin.
“When I saw him winning, I was almost crying,” Grmay tells Cyclingnews over a call from a training camp in France, where he is coaching young African riders as part of a UCI World Cycling Centre initiative.
“I knew it was coming, but it's a big moment,” Grmay continues. “He's a game changer. He's the guy that changed impossible to possible. Someone cannot now think it's impossible. He makes it disappear.”
“For me, the biggest thing Bini has changed in Africa is the belief, the belief that someone from Eritrea, from Ethiopia, from other parts of Africa, that they could do it, they could win races.”
Belief is a powerful thing. It’s hard to believe that you can do something if you’ve never seen someone like you do it before. Girmay has provided that belief for thousands of young Africans and many believe the 2024 Tour de France will be a turning point in relation to Africa’s participation in the sport.
“We Africans have never watched a Black African rider ever win a stage in the Tour de France,” says Kiya Rogora, a young Ethiopian rider, formerly of the EF-Nippo Development team. “Now the rest of the African riders are dreaming of doing the Tour de France, we all are dreaming of making a stage win.”
Many mountains still to climb
Two stats stand at loggerheads with one another from this year's Tour de France. The first is that Girmay is the first Black African ever to win stages of the Tour, a step forward for the internationalisation of professional cycling. The second is that Girmay was the only Black rider at the race, a statement of the sport's lack of diversity at the top level.
Among the 522 riders that make up the 2024 men’s WorldTour squads, just 5 are Black Africans - a figure that has declined since the days of Teklehaimanot, Kudus, and Grmay. The situation is more stark in the Women’s WorldTour, which has never had a Black African rider in its number.
The reality alongside Girmay's breakthrough is that barriers remain substantial for all Africans who wish to make their way as professional cyclists. Obstacles include visa restrictions hindering their ability to travel, lack of local racing opportunities which stops them from honing their race craft, an unwillingness from teams to take on African riders due to the extra challenges that come with them, and other cultural differences.
Xylon Van Eyck is a communications specialist who has worked in the cycling industry for several years including with the South African registered MTN-Qhubeka team. He points out that it’s not just their stoic mentality that pushes these riders on, but also the knowledge that their success is bigger than cycling, it’s transforming communities back home.
“The reason why they're willing to suffer in Europe, the reason why they're willing to suffer physically for their sport and suffer emotionally and mentally is because it literally changes generations of lives in their families,” Van Eyck says.
Visas remain an ongoing problem for African cyclists as they look to race in Europe. This issue came to the fore at last year’s World Championships in Glasgow when even Girmay, one of the contenders for the rainbow jersey, found himself unable to enter the UK due to visa restrictions.
Rwanda’s first and only WorldTour rider Adrien Niyonshuti is now the head coach of the West African nation of Benin. Niyonshuti breaks down African cycling development into three areas; finding talent, developing that talent, and getting that talent to Europe.
The Benin National Federation is investing heavily in the sport. Niyonshuti, in conjunction with Team Africa Rising, has been working hard over the past 18 months on the first two areas and now plans to send two groups of riders to Europe over the next few weeks to give them higher quality race experience. The only problem is that they are still waiting to obtain visas.
"We have the house, we have everything set up, but we are still waiting for visas," Niyonshuti says. “We have been planning since January.”
Niyonshuti hopes that Girmay’s high profile success will help all Africans in their visa applications.
“I think with Biniam, everyone knows that in Africa they can ride the bike. So when we apply for visas it will help us to get a quick answer, you know. I think that is something very important for cycling in Africa."
The lack of quality racing opportunities in Africa means that riders have to get to Europe to progress. The previous generation of Black African cyclists had a clear pathway to the European peloton through the South African MTN-Qhubeka team which folded at the end of 2022. Today’s generation is split across several teams, but Van Eyck thinks a dedicated African team is needed to see more talented Africans make the transition to Europe as well as more racing in Africa.
“I really think we need an African team like MTN-Qhubeka was - a bridge to Europe. I do think we need higher-level racing on the African continent…you need a good level of racing where riders can show themselves. You need that bridge to get to Europe,” Van Eyck says.
It is admirable, inspirational even, to see these young men and women overcome so much for the sport they love. Girmay’s success will encourage more to overcome these barriers to make it as professionals.
However, as long as these obstacles remain as high as they are, those who overcome them will be in the minuscule minority while a sea of talent is held back, unable to follow their dreams.
‘A springboard for change’
If Black African riders are ever to form a significant percentage of the professional peloton, investment is needed to address the problems they, and others, face. Solutions need to be found to the visa conundrum, Africans need more opportunities to race to a higher level locally and they need access to better coaching and equipment.
Across several African nations, initiatives big and small are ongoing to address many of these problems on the ground. There are projects aiming to give Africans racing opportunities in Europe, such as the Ride United Foundation, several clubs such as Masaka Cycling Club in Uganda aim to boost development locally and Team Africa Rising are supporting the Benin National Federation as they attempt to grow the sport in the country.
“Change won't happen without intentional programs and investment and people actually doing the work,” says Van Eyck. “It's going to take a while and it only comes through people who will see the long-term vision.”
“African cycling is only going to become a global player and a big part of global cycling if we 10-times, 20-times the investment and support programs.”
The UCI have their own initiatives to develop African cycling through their World Cycling Centre (WCC), with Grmay now involved as a coach. The WCC has a legacy of developing African talent, with the likes of Teklehaimanot, Kudus, and Grmay having all gone through that system before moving into the WorldTour. Biniam Girmay was among the final male riders to be part of the WCC before it paused its program for men at the end of 2019.
Now, the WCC’s activities in Europe are focused around a women’s team which contains two African riders, although plans are in place to reinstate a men’s program for 2025, especially building up to the World Championships in Rwanda. There are also several WCC satellite centres aiming to develop cycling in different regions around the world, including one in Paarl, South Africa.
“If Biniam didn't get that opportunity in [2019] you can imagine where he's going to be. Who's going to give him that chance?” Grmay asks as he praises the UCI for their work in this area. “All the opportunity, where did he get it? Because of that project, it's amazing.”
Van Eyck thinks there is more that the UCI could be doing. “In my view, cycling isn't growing as fast as it can grow,” he says. “We aren't allowing innovation to happen at a quicker rate and we aren't bringing other continents to the sport…you look at other sports, they are incredibly diverse.”
Next year the eyes of the cycling world will be drawn to Africa as the UCI hosts the first World Championships ever on the continent in Kigali, Rwanda. It is hoped that the event will inspire the next generation of African cyclists, but the concern for many is what the legacy of the World Championships will be.
“When it’s finished, what’s happening in the future?” asks Niyonshuti. “What is the future of cycling in Africa?”
“I am very nervous that this Championships will be a dead end, you know, it'll happen, and that'll be it,” says Van Eyck. “If there are no intentional structures in place…what is going to happen? I think the World Championships should be a springboard for change.”
Biniam Girmay’s 2024 Tour de France will always be remembered as a moment of history, but what happens next is perhaps even more vital for the future of not only cycling in Africa, but the sport as a whole.
Black Africans have all the natural physical capabilities, the will and the passion needed to be heavily represented among cycling’s elite, even to dominate as they have done in other endurance events. Girmay has inspired a new generation, but more investment is needed to fully “open the door.”
