Eritrean Girmay first black African to win stage in Tour de France

TURIN, Italy, July 2 – Biniam Girmay made history by becoming the first black African to win a stage in the Tour de France when Mark Cavendish was held up by a crash on the return journey to Turin.

In a short sprint, Eritrean Girmay finished as the winner, followed by Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Belgian Arnaud de Lie in second and third place.

Before the race, there was little talk of Cavendish claiming a record 35 stage wins, but a crash just over 2km from the finish on the 230.8km route from Piacenza left many riders – including the Manxman – out of position.

Meanwhile, Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to wear the yellow jersey based on the positions achieved in the first three stages, while Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard tied the time with the EF Education-EasyPost rider in the general classification.

At the finish, an emotional Girmay, 24 years old and who won his first stage in a Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia, in 2022, stressed how important his achievement was.

“I would like to thank God for everything, for giving me all the strength and support,” Girmay said.

Thanks to Africa

“Since I started cycling, I never dreamed of being part of the Tour de France, but now I can’t believe it. I want to thank my family, my wife, Eritrea and Africa.

“We have to be proud. Now we are part of the big races and we have success. Now is our moment, now is our time. This for all of Africa”

Cavendish and his Astana-Qazaqstan teammates were riding on the right side of the road as riders battled for position in the closing stages of the race. The 39-year-old rider said he was happy to have come out unscathed after crashing on stage eight 12 months ago.

“Something was going to happen,” Cavendish said. “You could feel it, but you didn’t know where or when. I could hear it happening from the front, so you brake, you skid, and you wait for someone to hit you from behind.

“Luckily we were OK and I don’t think anyone was seriously injured. You don’t want anyone to crash, but I don’t think anyone was seriously injured, so that’s very good news. We didn’t sprint, but we’re safe and that’s the most important thing.”

On Tuesday, the race heads into the Alps, where the Tour takes in the impressive Col du Galibier on the mountainous 139.6km route from Pinerolo to Valloire.

Results of phase three

1. Biniam Girmay (Eri/Intermarche-Wanty) 5 hours 26 minutes 48 seconds
2. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Movistar) Same time
3. Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto Dstny) “
4. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) “
5. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Jayco-AlUla) “
6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger/Bahrain winner)
7. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned/DSM-firmenich-PostNL) “
8. Davide Ballerini (ITA/Astana-Qazaqstan) “
9. Sam Bennett (Ireland/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) “
10. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) “