Biniam Girmay is back to his winning ways, securing not one but two history-making wins at the 2024 Tour de France (At the time of writing). This moment is important, but this writer thinks those historic victories achieve an even deeper meaning.
Whether you're Eritrean (Like Bini) or simply a sports fan of any other ethnicity, watching Biniam Girmay eclipse his rivals on stage 5 and stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France was an emotional rollercoaster.
While these two stages are far from Biniam's only high-profile wins - the Eritrean also won the 2022 Gent-Wevelgem and a stage in the Giro d'Italia of the same year - taking not one, but two stages of cycling's biggest race has the impressive effect of making people stand up and pay attention.
In taking those victories this year, Biniam achieved several incredible, but surface-level things:
He became the first black African to win a stage of the Tour de France
He became the first black African to win two stages of the Tour de France (obviously!)
He became the first black African to wear the green sprinter's jersey in the Tour de France
These things will be cemented in history forever, they cannot be taken from him, and they cannot be understated.
What I think is worth exploring though, is what these victories mean for cycling, what they mean for culture and what they mean for black (and other underrepresented) people everywhere.
To be seen is to be believed
For most white kids, if they aspire to be something, there is a role model available to help them believe it's possible. For children from underrepresented groups, that is seldom the case. They must instead rely on the encouragement of their parents - if they have decent role models in them - the school system, relying on exceptional educators, or they rely on moments like these, where people of colour achieve high profile things.
There are plenty of great examples in other sports, Emma Raducanu in tennis, Alex Scott or Ian Wright (among many others) in football or Anthony Joshua in boxing, but cycling has - for as long as I can remember - had a diversity issue.
Cycling's late to the party
In cycling, you can name on two hands the black riders who have graced the World Tour at some point, maybe one extra hand if you include other people of colour, but even then their combined wins would make for a small list. Cyclingnews has covered this history nicely this week, as it relates to the Tour, but the fact that this history fits in one sub-2000 word article shows the nature of the issue black riders face.
The modern era of cycling is improving though, even aside from Girmay's recent wins. Justin Williams has made strides in the US and elsewhere, being successful (and vocal) in the US and bringing with him a wave of other black riders whilst also inspiring the next generation of US riders. One of our own contributors, Llori, is the first to talk about how Legion helped her reach recognition in the US. Before Legion though, others have a marked connection with Africa and the Caribbean.
Europcar worked with Kevin Rezar for many seasons, Dimension Data/MTN Quebeca brought Daniel Teklehaimanot to the World Tour, the first Eritrean to wear the King of the Mountains jersey. Canyon Sram brought Llori through their development team, Canyon SRAM Generation, alongside Dianne Ingabire and a strong contingent of other riders from Africa and the Caribbean. In 2024, Trinidadian Teniel Campbell, rides for Liv Jayco Alula, having come through the UCI's own development scheme. More recently, Team Amani is giving European gravel opportunities to young male and female riders from Kenya.
All of that is to say, there IS promise and there has been opportunity, but if you take the number of black World Tour or 'mainstream' riders (I'm aware I've not mentioned MTB for example) vs the populations of the majority black nations in both Africa and the Caribbean, we can clearly see there is work to be done.
So while I've really been around the houses with it, the point is that young black girls and boys have shockingly few role models at the top of our sports to look to and strive to become.
The biggest race in the world
It's important to note, that the achievements of all those I've mentioned above (or not mentioned) are in no way lessened by Biniam's win at the Tour de France, but the effectiveness of change moving forward comes down to a simple equation:
'sales' = reach/conversion rate.
The Tour de France - reach in that equation - is the biggest bike race in the world, with an estimated 3.5 billion viewers. Biniam's wins, and his subsequent wearing of the green jersey, will therefore reach the largest cycling audience and by association, the largest number of black riders. If we can convert more of them to cycling, with initiatives like CCC, we'll improve diversity in cycling long-term.
I'm hopeful, therefore, that this moment will be the start of change; that it will not just be a flash-in-the-pan news story for the cycling media only to be swallowed up as the maillot jaune changes hands, but the beginning of a revolution, where riders of all ages from all underrepresented groups look to Girmay and have their perception of Le Tour changed. Asking themselves, why couldn't that be me?
For that opportunity, all I can say to Girmay, is thank you.
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