The longest stage of this 111th edition was also supposed to be the most soporific, a moment of relaxation after a weekend of amphetamines in Italy. It will go down in history for two major firsts that resonate well beyond the traditional borders of a sport that is still very European.
Whether it was the ecstatic victory of “Bini”, hero of an entire continent, or that of Carapaz, a figure already well established in the peloton, they provoked immense emotion in their respective countries.
“It means a lot to me to become the first black African rider to win the Tour de France,” Girmay said at a press conference.
“This is a victory for all Africans. Now we are truly part of the greatest race. This is our moment, our hour,” he had stammered, in tears, a few minutes earlier during the formal interview.
“It’s going to be crazy in the country. In training, before the Tour, I was encouraged everywhere. They told me: win the Tour de France. Now they must be throwing tables and televisions in the bars,” he said, followed in Turin as everywhere by a small cohort of compatriot supporters who emigrated to Europe.
The Asmara native becomes, at 24 years old, only the third African rider to win on the roads of the Tour after the South Africans Daryl Impey and Rob Hunter.
The Tour on TV with his father
He revealed himself in 2022 when he won a major classic, Ghent-Wevelgem, and a stage of the Giro d’Italia, before experiencing a more difficult season.
A representative of a cycling sector on the rise, symbolised by the organisation of the 2025 Road World Championships in Rwanda, the Eritrean rider passed through the World Cycling Centre, a structure of the International Cycling Union (UCI) aimed at talent from less fortunate countries.
He started his professional career in 2020 with the French team Delko before joining Intermarché, the Belgian team to whom he gave its first success on the Tour.
In Eritrea, where cycling arrived with the Italian colonisation between 1885 and 1941, Girmay is already a hero who surpasses the pioneer Daniel Teklehaimanot, who wore the polka dot jersey in the Tour in 2015: “a moment that changed everything for us”, according to Girmay.
“My father watched the Tour de France every day,” Bini said.
“He would turn on the TV right after dinner and call us to show us and tell us how difficult it was. He assured us that it was the number one sport in the world. I asked my father if I too could one day race the Tour de France, he said yes but on condition that you believe in your chances.”
On Monday, Girmay believed in it very strongly to win the sprint ahead of the Colombian Fernando Gaviria and the Belgian Arnaud De Lie in a chaotic final with a major collective fall two kilometers from the finish which notably eliminated the favorite Jasper Philipsen.
Carapaz’s Dream
This big crash created a break in the peloton at a point in the race where there is no longer any consequence for the general classification since the times are frozen in the last three (five on Monday) kilometers in the event of a fall or mechanical incident.
Except that four riders were in the same second at the start of the stage, separated only by the cumulative number of their places at the finish in the previous days, meaning Tadej Pogacar wore the jersey on Tuesday.
Delayed by the fall, the Slovenian finished delayed, in 38th place, giving the yellow jersey to Carapaz.
The Ecuadorian is already used to the greatest honors, having won the Giro d’Italia in 2019 and been crowned Olympic champion in Tokyo. But his pride was, like Girmay’s, immense in having written “a historic page for (his) country.”
“For Ecuador, for me, for my team, it’s a dream come true in the biggest race in the world,” added the EF Education rider for whom it’s also a sweet revenge after not being selected by the Ecuadorian Federation to defend his title at the Paris Olympics.
He will defend his yellow jersey on Tuesday on the slopes of Galibier, for the finish of the Tour in France.
