It was a historic Sunday for cycling in Flanders.
By winning in Ghent-Wevelgem, the Eritrean Biniam Girmay became the first athlete from sub-Saharan Africa to win a classic.
The 21-year-old runner, member of the Belgian Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team, beat Frenchman Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) in a four-man sprint, after 249 km of racing.
Silver medalist in the hopes category at the Worlds last year, Girmay turned professional in 2020 with the French team Delko.
He joined the WorldTour level last spring.
He asserted himself at the end of the season by winning the Classic Grand Besançon before starting the 2021 season with a success at the end of January in Mallorca.
GIRMAY IN HISTORY!
Biniam Girmay wins Ghent-Wevelgem and becomes the first Eritrean to win a classic 👏#lequipeVELO pic.twitter.com/IXlcLoiGQN
— L'Équipe channel (@lachainelequipe) March 27, 2022
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to third-party content
I ACCEPT
You can also modify your choices at any time via "choice of consent".
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
Under the sun, the race could not settle in the various "mountains" despite the attacks of the Jumbo formation.
Belgian champion Wout van Aert set the pace on the third and final ascent of the Kemmel, 34 kilometers from the finish, and brought with him a small group of strong men (Asgreen, M. Pedersen, Laporte, van Baarle, Kragh Andersen, Mohoric then Benoot) without managing to create a sufficient gap afterwards on the flat roads leading back to Wevelgem.
“It's just amazing!
»
A quartet (Laporte, Van Gestel, Stuyven, Girmay) broke away at the start of the last 25 kilometers and the main peloton, comprising several sprinters, failed to close the gap.
“It's just amazing, I couldn't expect so much!
exclaimed Girmay, who planned to return to his country and then return to Europe to run the Giro.
“I suffered a bit on the cobbles, it was really not comfortable.
Afterwards I felt better and better and I regained places.
In the sprint, I was dealing with strong riders but I had confidence,” added the winner who started the sprint from afar.
“It will change a lot of things for my future and that of African riders,” concluded the Eritrean, representing cycling on the rise symbolized by the organization of the 2025 Road World Championships in Rwanda.
Sport
Perpignan: Cyclists from the Tour of Catalonia find themselves facing traffic
Sport
Cycling: The news is good for Sonny Colbrelli after his cardiopulmonary arrest
Belgium
Cycling
Sport
Eritrea
Cycling
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print