World Cycling Championships in Rwanda
The Tour of Rwanda has been held there for many years as an international professional stage race. Now the continent between Cairo and Cape Town also has its own candidate for victory in tough one-day races: Biniam Girmay, professional cyclist with Team Intermarche. The man from Eritrea, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on 2 April, made a surprise appearance at the top of the world rankings a year ago when he won the Gent-Wevelgem race. "It's great to have a champion like him, with a view to the World Championships and cycling in Africa," said Douglas Ryder at the time.
The South African once kick-started the project with the professional team Qhubeka - but did not achieve lasting success at the top of the world. Girmay later showed with a stage win at the Giro d'Italia that his success in Belgium in the spring was not a flash in the pan. And is perhaps inspiring the centre of Africa for cycling - where cycling plays an important role in Eritrea due to its past as an Italian colony.
Until now, Africa's top cyclists have come exclusively from European-influenced South Africa - from where Robert Hunter, Daryl Impey and Louis Meintjes rose to the top of the world rankings. Although Christopher Froome grew up in Kenya, he celebrated his greatest successes, including four victories in the Tour de France, with a British passport.
