Biniam Girmay: Visiting a national hero
Text: Philippe Le Gars / L'Equipe - German adaptation: Andreas Kublik
Home visit to Biniam Girmay
The sunlight filters gently through the small windows of the Boeing 737 - dozens of travellers from Eritrea are sitting on the plane, the luggage compartments are packed with plastic bags in the colours of the duty-free shop at Dubai Airport. Many travellers have stocked up on everyday necessities there before their journey home.
Outside, the first hills of the Eritrean plateau can be seen from above, the seemingly endless desert landscape gives way to the ochre-coloured cliffs on the Red Sea coast.
During the approach to the capital Asmara, fields appear with huge bales of hay wrapped in colourful plastic. Even before you reach the first large settlements, you can see small, low huts scattered along paths winding through the hills for dozens of kilometres.
Champs-Elysees of Asmara
Then, at an altitude of 2300 metres, the airport runway catches the eye. All around are many military posts and watchtowers, reminding travellers of the political situation in the country. Eritrea is in a state of war, sometimes more, sometimes less in open conflict with its neighbours in Ethiopia and Djibouti; ruled by the all-powerful President Isayas Afewerki, who has only ever been elected once: in 1993.
Legend has it that you can meet the popular leader in the streets of Asmara when he is on his way to the presidential palace at the end of the main street, Harnet Avenue. In a touch of irony, Eritreans call the street the "Champs-Elysees of Asmara" - it is also where most of the country's cycling races take place.
Despite the legend, you won't find anyone who has ever actually met the president in person - unless it's one of the local professional cyclists. Almost all of them have been received at the presidential palace when they have returned from Europe. The cyclists are regarded as the country's favourite export goods, so to speak.
The legacy of the Italian colonisers
The international rise of Eritrean cycling began with Merhawi Kudus and Daniel Teklehaimanot, who were the first professional cyclists from their country to take part in the Tour de France in 2015. Teklehaimanot even wore the best climber's polka dot jersey for a few days at the time, and the president offered him a flat in Asmara as a reward. After that, there were no outstanding cycling successes for a while - but that was also because the country was in lockdown for more than a year due to the pandemic.
Rome of Africa
Until Biniam Girmay emerged a year ago and once again made the world aware of the importance of cycling here in the Horn of Africa. He was the first African to win the Ghent-Wevelgem cobbled classic, and a few weeks later he became the first cyclist from sub-Saharan Africa to win a stage of the Giro d'Italia - the tour in the country of the former colonial rulers.
They also call Asmara the "Rome of Africa" because the remnants of the Italian colonial era - from the end of the 19th century until 1941 - are almost intact. Eritrea has not burned all its bridges to the past - there are still cafés or restaurants with names like Gianna, Piccolo or Bologna, or an old cinema called Roma, where Italian films from the 1950s and 60s are shown. "We are perhaps the only country in Africa that mourns the Italian era," says one of the old Eritreans you meet on the street.
Virtual long-distance travel
People here go to libraries and archives such as those of the French cultural institute Alliance francaise if they want to get an idea of what life outside looks like - outside the country's borders, which have been hermetically sealed since independence in 1993. The inhabitants of Eritrea travel differently: "through the images of the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia," says cartographer Beyene Surafiel. He is a friend of professional racing cyclist Merhawi Kudus. "When I watch TV in July, I list all the dams with hydroelectric power stations that are shown and draw them," he says.
In perhaps the only country in the world where cycling is the number one sport, you can accompany the national heroes on two wheels live, travelling the world with them. But not always. In his home country, Biniam Girmay's victory on the wet cobblestones of Gent-Wevelgem last March went almost unnoticed. "The only classics you can see on Eritrean television are Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. My stage win at the Giro therefore attracted a lot more attention," explains the country's best cyclist to date. But the story of his breakthrough has long since spread with all the details. "Everyone now knows what the roads in Flanders look like with their cobblestones and slip roads," adds Biniam. Everyone only calls him by his first name - that's the custom in Eritrea. His passport contains the names "Girmay" and "Hailu".
These are not other surnames, but the first names of his father and grandfather, as they appear on the identity documents of all Eritrean citizens. "I remember my first official races. At the UCI, they didn't know what my real name was, I even had three licence numbers at one time, each issued in a different name," says Biniam with a smile.
People know him now. At just 23 years old, Biniam stands out - because of his successes and the interest he attracts everywhere in his home country. In Asmara, he avoids going out on the street - for fear of being approached. "I don't like crowds, or when everyone jumps on me," he justifies, refusing to take photos around the church of Santa Maria del Rosario.
Because this Wednesday at the end of November 2022 is a church holiday, big festivities are planned around the church building and crowds of people are expected. He prefers to sit on the terrace of a secluded café. He will return in the evening and, if possible, go incognito with Merhawi Kudus to the school belonging to the church, where they will take part in religious instruction.
Biniam Girmay - The dream becomes reality
Miriam Habte, young cycling commissioner and responsible for women's cycling on the federation's management committee, calls Biniam "a great sage - despite his young age". She emphasises: "Even when he speaks English, you can feel a natural power in his words. He is a role model for many young people, and thanks to him we have many new memberships from boys at the association. He has triggered a trend like Daniel (Teklehaimanot; editor's note) did back then."
The changing of the guard happens quickly in Eritrea. The generation around Teklehaimanot came to the fore seven years ago, when Biniam was 15 years old: "I was standing at the side of the road when the parade with Daniel passed by after his return from the Tour de France in July 2015. It was an incredible celebration. Like all the boys around me at the time, I dreamed of being in his place - but I couldn't imagine actually experiencing it."
Biniam Girmay received a similar reception on his own return from the Giro last June. Daniel Teklehaimanot was also there - at the wheel of one of the cars in the parade. The car in which Biniam was sitting was driven by Zersenay Tadese, the first Olympic medallist in Eritrean history: he won bronze in the 10000-metre race in Athens in 2004.
The young cyclist Biniam Girmay has now arrived among the best. But that was by no means always certain. "In 2015, I could never have imagined that Bini would one day become a successful professional cyclist," recalls Samson Solomon, the national coach and once Biniam's first coach at the country's flagship cycling club. "He was 16 years old at the time and, as with all boys of that age, there was no way of knowing how he would adapt to life in Europe."
Joint holiday, separate training
Last autumn and winter, Biniam Girmay prepared for the new season in Eritrea after enjoying a few days' holiday in Massaua on the Red Sea - together with fellow professional cyclists Henok Mulubrhan from the Italian team Green Project-Bardiani, Natnael Tesfatsion and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier from Trek-Segafredo and kudus, which EF Education EasyPost is under contract.
The port city of Massaua, the most important site of the Allied military operation against the Italians during the Second World War and later a battlefield in the 1970s during the war of independence against Ethiopia, is usually one of the destinations of the professional cyclists' training rides, around three hours from Asmara and 2,400 metres below sea level. Not easy terrain: on the way back to the capital, the route climbs for 70 kilometres.
But the friends no longer manage to cycle together as they did before they became professionals. Now everyone has their own training plan from the team. "Sometimes we meet on the bike, but we each lead our own lives," says Biniam, who knows that he has entered a different world: "I lead a different life than before, but I never forget my roots. They are here in Asmara."
And he cultivates connections back home. Biniam surprised everyone the evening after his victory in Wevelgem on 27 March last year. He announced that he would not be taking part in the Tour of Flanders the following Sunday because he would prefer to travel home to Eritrea.
Biniam Girmay - A racing driver like any other
"At the time, I hadn't seen my wife and daughter for three months. That's why there was no question of me changing my programme. After that, I would have been asked to stay until Paris-Roubaix - it would never have stopped," says Girmay, explaining his decision and proving that he already thinks and acts like a boss.
During the photo sessions in Asmara the week before, he had refused to pose with his country's flag. "Would you ask that of van Aert?" he justified himself. "I think it's unnecessary to associate me with my country. Everyone knows where I come from. I no longer want to be reduced to my origins. I want to be a racer like everyone else now."
Inquisitive and adaptable
Then he shares an injera, a huge flatbread typical of the country, with Kudus and Berhane - he sees them as his big brothers in cycling. "I'm not interested in being the centre of attention on social media just because a champagne cork popped in my eye," he emphasises. Immediately after his Giro stage win in Jesi, the mishap happened during the podium ceremony and the pictures went viral. "I was afraid for ten days that I might lose my sight. But people made fun of this situation online - and forgot that I had won a stage," he says. He saved many caricatures on his smartphone, including one in which he can be seen as Jack Sparrow, the title character from the pirate film "Pirates of the Caribbean". Even months later, the image only brings a pained smile to his face.
While he later drives through the streets of Asmara in his car to show visitors around the city, music by rapper Jul from Marseille plays on an endless loop. "This is Marseille, baby!" he mumbles in French. He has not forgotten his beginnings as a professional in Marseille with the local team Delko-Marseille.
At the time, he was living in Aix-en-Provence. When he returned to Eritrea from there for the first time, he immediately enrolled on a language course at the French Institute. "I had English at school, my father insisted on it. He thought it would help me later in life. But I also wanted to learn the language of the country I was living in. Now I understand French well and speak it a little," he says.
At 22, he already has a family of his own, like most of his mates who married early. Those who are married are not sent to the front, where the Eritrean army is fighting the enemy troops from Ethiopia. The general mobilisation ordered by the president on 14 September 2022 for all citizens under the age of 55 has reminded everyone once again that the country is in a state of war - and has been since independence.
A life in two worlds
Biniam Girmay leads a privileged life - he has not been through the same things as most of his compatriots. However, it is also difficult for him to communicate with people abroad because there is no free access to the internet in Eritrea. So he needed the help of Muriel Soret, who has been the French ambassador in Asmara for two years. From the two offices that Soret shares with her deputy Clara Barroso, Biniam negotiated his new contract with the Belgian team Intermarche-Wanty.
He will soon be moving to Monaco and will then have many great cycling champions as neighbours. His agent Alex Carera also takes care of the business affairs of Tadej Pogacar. "It will be a different life," Girmay believes, "but I won't spend too much time there. When I'm not racing, I'll come back here to Asmara." He also skipped his team's first training camp in Spain due to the visit home between cycling years and only joined his team-mates in January.
Biniam Girmay - Popular beyond national borders
Meanwhile, the appearance of two cycling journalists on the streets of the capital does not go unnoticed - because in Eritrea, representatives of foreign media are very rarely granted visas. People also realise that Biniam has long been popular beyond the country's borders. In our search for traces and voices, we end up in the old city centre of Asmara, where the architecture mixes art deco with buildings from the Italian colonial era.
The market for the metal dealers here looks like a colourful hodgepodge. All sorts of materials are unloaded here, from empty motor oil cans to wrecked cars, to be recycled by workers of all ages, from barely six-year-olds to senior citizens scarred by life.
Musie Goitom also works here as a blacksmith - he used to be a successful cyclist until he ended his career in the early 2000s. "I didn't have the opportunity to travel all over the world," says Musie, pushing up his welding goggles. Then he says: "Bini has to realise that everyone expects even more from him now. He has to remain serious and not be too dazzled by the spotlight."
Biniam Girmay - a break with tradition?
Biniam decided not to learn from the veterans - as has long been the tradition in Eritrean cycling. In the beginning, he was on the back wheel of Meron Teshome, who was a professional with the German Team Bike Aid at the time, and took advice from him rather than from Daniel Teklehaimanot, Eritrea's first great cycling idol.
Perhaps this is why the latter is rather reserved when talking about his up-and-coming compatriot: "Biniam has to shape his own career. He needs to know where he wants to go. As soon as things don't go so well for him, he'll be reminded that he's African. People forget us quicker than the others."
Biniam Girmay has often heard this and similar advice - which is also the reason why he keeps away from the older generation as much as possible, avoiding their representatives - thanks to a few tricks such as regularly changing his phone number. He wants to write his very own story, which will take him to the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and, of course, the Tour de France for the first time in the new season.
For his Tour debut, Biniam has an entire country behind him - both the representatives of the powerful diaspora, who visibly and audibly gather at the side of the track at every cycling race, and the people at home: next July, they will stop work early every afternoon, gather in cinemas or bars in front of screens showing live broadcasts of the Tour de France - and then dream with their new idol and travel with him through France.
