The beatific smile on the face of Biniam Girmay as he crossed the finish line to win at Wevelgem and Jesi were the moments of the cycling year. So much had precipitated those wins, so many difficult times, so many calls to answer the question: how much do you want this?
The groundwork was laid back in Eritrea, only it wasn’t just about hitting the right power zones at altitude, riding up 40km ascents past camels and baboons. Every evening Girmay would journey to an internet cafe, upload his TrainingPeaks data and chat over a shaky connection with his coach. Even now, when we meet in a Brussels coffee shop, the suitcase in the corner tells of Girmay’s return from the Canadian embassy in Paris after having to arrange a visa for races in Québec and Montreal. But no amount of red tape or dodgy Wi-Fi can slow his rise. Wins this season – his first on the WorldTour – at Gent-Wevelgem and the Giro d’Italia saw Girmay shoot into the limelight like a prosecco cork – an apt if unfortunate analogy given how he went from celebrating his first Grand Tour stage win to abandoning the Giro having shot himself in the eye with the cork from the obligatory winner’s fizz.
‘It’s the good moment and the bad moment,’ Girmay says. ‘After that amazing victory, to miss the race because of the champagne bottle? It’s bad luck or, I don’t know, my fault. I was feeling mad in that moment. Now I’m
