'I want to be the next African history writer': Meet the young riders inspired by Biniam Girmay

Before May, no Black African had ever won a Grand Tour stage. Then Biniam Girmay came along and gave belief to the next generation

Biniam Girmay celebrating Giro d'Italia stage win
(Image credit: Getty)

There’s one piece of advice that 19-year-old Kiya Rogora has never forgotten. It was a warm September morning in 2021 and the Ethiopian was in the gothic Belgian city of Leuven, grabbing a coffee with his new hero Biniam Girmay.

The day before, the teenager had watched on as the Eritrean became the first Black African to win a medal at the Road World Championships, claiming silver in the men’s under-23 road race. Until that moment, Rogora had never seen someone like himself, someone with black skin, on a podium in Europe. 

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