Biniam Girmay is so popular in his native Eritrea that when he returned home for a period after his Gent Wevelgem win the schools in his area were closed for the day for a welcome home event.
When he raced at Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) in Germany yesterday, so many Eritreans congregated around the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team bus that security had to be put in place. When Girmay came out to greet the fans they went wild, as these videos reveal.
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The 22-year-old has just extended, and renegotiated, his contract with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux. The new deal will see him stay at the team until the end of 2026 and is said to be worth three times his previous salary of €300,000.
He shot to prominence last year with silver in the U23 road race at the Worlds in Leuven and his popularity soared with his recent success in Europe.
“After Gent-Wevelgem I was welcomed like a king, but the Grand Tours are much more respected in Eritrea. If I win a ride, they go crazy," he said. He goes into the Giro - for his Grand Tour debut - having just completed an altitude camp.
