History was made again for African cycling when Biniam Girmay won silver at the U23 men's World Road Race Championships. The 21-year old from Asmara, Eritrea, finished 2 seconds behind the winner, Italy's Filippo Broncini, and a shade ahead of Olav Kooij of the Netherlands.
This is the first time that a black African cycle racer is making it onto the podium in any race of a World Championships. He only signed up with Intermarché-Wanty Gobert Materiaux this summer, but he has already made his mark, doing well in races that have punchy climbs - as was the course between Antwerp and Leuven today.
There have been a growing number of African riders doing well in professional races, and a big moment was in 2015 when Daniel Teklehaimanot, also of Eritrea wore the polka dot jersey of King of the Mountains at the Tour de France. Since then there have been fleeting results here and there, but nothing as resounding as a podium place in a world championships. Hopefully, we can look forward to more great results from this young man, and it can inspire other great performances from black African riders.
No comments:
Post a Comment