After making history twice, first as the first Black rider ever to win a stage at the Tour de France and then as the first Black rider ever to win a classification in the Grande Boucle, Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay has extended his deal with Intermarché-Wanty through 2028.
“Intermarché-Wanty is like a family to me,” Girmay shared in a release published by the Belgian team.
“The results achieved during this Tour de France have confirmed that Intermarché-Wanty is the perfect team to achieve my goals, with a highly developed performance structure while always maintaining a family atmosphere. The team has always supported and trusted me, even in the most difficult moments. Intermarché-Wanty remains my favorite team, so extending the adventure for two more years is simply an obvious choice.”
Intermarché-Wanty’s boss, Jean-François Bourlart, added, “In 2021, we began a fantastic journey with Biniam Girmay. We’ve built on this over the past four years, culminating in this Tour de France that propelled both Biniam and our Intermarché-Wanty team to the pinnacle of world cycling. It was, therefore, a no-brainer to continue writing this story for another four years, with many more exciting moments to come, I’m sure. This also marks another step forward in the development of our team, which continues to grow year after year.”
Girmay joined the Belgium-based Intermaché-Wanty in 2021 after a pair of seasons with the France-based UCI pro-level DELKO team.
The following year, he won Gent-Wevelgem and became the first Black African to win a stage at any of cycling’s three Grand Tours when he took Stage 10 at the Giro d’Italia. However, his time in the spotlight was cut all too short when the cork from a celebratory bottle of champagne struck him in the eye, forcing him to abandon the remainder of the Giro.
He enjoyed almost no notable successes until this year’s Tour when he won stages 3, 8, and 12 en route to a historic run to the Green Jersey.
Girmay’s next target is the Olympic Games in Paris, where the course suits his riding style, giving him a good chance to medal despite the fact that he’ll be the only rider from Eritrea in the race.
“I am convinced we can still achieve great things together, and I am already looking towards the next goals, starting with the Olympic Games! I am glad to continue this story with my beloved team,” Girmay said.
Beyond that, the goal for the twenty-four-year-old is to win one (or more) of cycling’s monuments: Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and il Lombardia.
“The results during the Tour prove that our approach is working,” said Intermarché-Wanty’sperformance manager Aike Visbeek. “Our next goal is to win a Monument, and we will do everything we can to achieve this in the coming years.”
Michael Venutolo-Mantovani is a writer and musician based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He loves road and track cycling, likes gravel riding, and can often be found trying to avoid crashing his mountain bike.
