Biniam Girmay

Biniam Girmay Hailu was born in Asmara in April 2000, into a family where cycling was already the household sport — his father watched the Tour de France every July, and his brother and cousin both raced. He won his first mountain-bike competition at twelve, came up through Eritrea’s junior ranks, and joined the UCI World Cycling Centre before turning professional in Europe.

What followed rewrote the record books of world cycling: silver at the U23 World Championships in 2021, victory at Gent–Wevelgem in 2022 as the first African to win a WorldTour classic, a Giro d’Italia stage the same spring, and in 2024 the performance that made him a global star — three stage wins and the green points jersey at the Tour de France, the first jersey ever won by an African rider at the Tour.

He now leads NSN Cycling Team, splits his time between Asmara and Europe, and carries the hopes of the deepest cycling culture in Africa every time he pins on a number.