On Monday, July 1, 2024 the world witnessed the Eritrean People shower with tears of joy shouting “Bini”, “Bini”, “Bini” …..when Eritrean professional cyclist Biniam Girmay made history as “The first black African to win Tour de France stage”.
In that moment “Bini” celebrated his victory the same as his People with tears of joy saying “I 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 is our moment, it is our time. It is for all Africa.”
World media streams; Sky Sport, France 24, the independent, the Guardian, BBC, NBS, Euro News, Cycle News have covered their pages with that victory. Cycle news titled “Bini” as the “another first”, while Tour de France as “a royal Sprint”. It was astounding when “Bini” cracked down the naïve attitude which outcast African cyclist from wining the stage. No black African cyclist ever won the stage and expected to; due to the Tour’s unique features.
Tour de France among other world grand tours like “Giro de Italia” and “Volta Spain” “remains after a century, unarguably the greatest cycling race in the world. No other country or sporting organization has been able to invent and stage a cycling competition which matches the Tour.” In addition, it is “annually a huge event in terms of the logistics of its preparation, organization, running and reporting. Every year, the Tour’s route has to be reinvented over nearly 4,000 kilometres of French (and neighbouring countries’) roads” (Hugh and Geoff: 2003). This led to the perception that African cyclist are out of shape to win such a stage. Here, winners seen as heroes and the race as the stuff of legend.
In Eritrea, cycling is not just a sport, but a culture. Its history goes back centuries when Italians first introduced bicycle. Gradually, it became our main means of transportation where every person could not reach to school or job without. During the Ethiopian colonization, history proves that Eritrean cyclist were participating in World Olympics with Ethiopian identity. This made cycling a culture beyond a sport, a treasure that gave birth to the “first black African cyclist to ever win the Tour de France stage”, Biniam Girmay.
Now, Eritrean Biniam Girmay is Africa’s and the worlds great inspiration. He proved us that no matter who you are and where you come from, victory is possible if there is a vision and determination. In his interview in tour Rwanda 2020, he shared his vision when he said; “My dream is not only to participate in the Tour de France, but also win a stage”. Consequently, after four years of consistent determination, his dream has come true and is making history. As the famous African leader Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible, until it is done” like to see a black African cyclist win the Tour de France stage.
Furthermore, he taught us resources are not a burden. Having a clear vision, loving what you do, developing a good habit with discipline is the path to be successful. Here, discipline is crucial, without it, nothing is achievable. As the famous American president Abraham Lincoln once said; “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”. Therefore, we all have to carry discipline in our journey to make history.
Moreover, “One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.” (Buddha). Biniam’s moment has changed everything; his life, his people, Africa and the world, by changing old perceptions that disregard African cyclist from wining a stage.
At last, as Biniam highlighted “It is our moment, it is our time”, especially for us the Eritrean people. It is our time were we celebrate our victories and shine over our challenges, after we paid heavy sacrifices to self-reliantly protect and build our glorious nation.
Written by Kidane Shmendi