When Biniam Girmay completed the final stage of the Tour de France and his virtual victory in the green jersey of the points competition became a reality, two of his teammates, Laurenz Rex and lead-out man Mike Teunissen, were waiting for him on the line to congratulate him.
But the impact of his green jersey victory stretched far beyond the finish of this year's Tour.
Girmay´s victory in the points jersey makes him the first Black African to claim a classification in the Tour de France. It also makes him the first Black African to win a stage in the race, with victories on stages 3, 8 and 12.
The Eritrean sprinter’s comfortable lead in the points competition briefly looked to face a late challenge from fellow fastman Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), following his bad crash on Tuesday at Nîmes and Philipsen`s third victory.
However, Philipsen’s late challenge never really gained traction, and instead, Girmay completed the Tour with a 33-point advantage over Philipsen, and a historic double breakthrough for Black African cycling safely in the bag.
"Wearing the green jersey is an honour, the symbol of the sprinter. This is a new dream come true.” Girmay told reporters afterwards.
“To be honest I didn’t come into this race with this ambition, I just came here to show I’m not a bad rider. I’m just grateful to have today, it’s the most amazing day of my life.”
Waving to the numerous Eritrean fans in the final kilometres of the course, a visibly emotional Girmay, who was unable at times to continue the interview he was fighting back so many tears, described his victory as “another chapter for us, you know".
“For a long time we have been part of cycling, but to have three stage wins and the green jersey is something special. For Africa and specially for Eritrea.
“I’m just really grateful to have this jersey and want to say thank you to my nation.”
In an interview earlier in the race with L’Equipe, Girmay revealed that he had not been designated the top sprinter for his squad in the race, rather he was due to be a lead-out man for teammate and fellow fastman Gerben Thijssen.
However, in the first flat stage of the Tour into Turin, he and Thijssen had become separated and the team had told him to go for the sprint himself, leading to his breakthrough success. And as he told L’Équipe, the Tour had been his pathway to cycling, too.
“I started cycling because I watched the Tour on television, it´s as simple as that. I grew up with that, all those images, the sprints, the champions…and my dreams evolved with time.
“When you are a child you think it´s impossible to become a pro. It´s just a dream. But finally when it happens, you say it´s impossible to win a Tour stage. And that becomes a dream too. And it´s so wonderful to see your dreams come true.”
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Tour de France - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage of the race as it happens and more. Find out more.
