"To win two times, I have to say thanks to God" - Biniam Girmay continues stunning Tour de France with another victory on stage 8
Cycling
A week ago, no black African had ever managed to win a stage of the Tour de France. Now, after two wins in six days, Biniam Girmay is becoming even more of a trailblazer than he was before.
"It's unbelievable," the 24-year-old Eritrean of Intermarché - Wanty reflected disbelievingly in his post-stage interview. "To win two times, I have to say thanks to God for everything. This victory I need to give to my mother and father, they believed in me and gave me all the support to become a professional cyclist. I'm so proud."
Having initially made history at the 2022 Giro d'Italia, Girmay failed to hit the heights on his Tour de France debut last year. This time around though, the Eritrean is emerging as the sprinter to beat with two stage wins a near 100 point lead in the Green Jersey classification over last year's jersey winner, Jasper Philipsen.
"I prefer this kind of sprint, because if it's really flat, the other guys are bigger and heavier than me so they can push more watts and go faster. But this finish for me, with my weight, was super nice," Girmay concludes, barely able to keep the smile off his face. "My team put me in the perfect wheel and gave me a good leadout, and I did my best sprint again. I have to also say thanks to the two Cofidis riders in front of me because it was a perfect leadout!"
2024 Tour de France stage 8 results:
| 1 | GIRMAY Biniam | Intermarché-Wanty | 210 | 04:04:50 |
| 2 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 150 | + 00 |
| 3 | DE LIE Arnaud | Lotto Dstny | 110 | + 00 |
| 4 | ACKERMANN Pascal | Israel-Premier Tech | 90 | + 00 |
| 5 | VAN DEN BERG Marijn | EF Education-EasyPost | 70 | + 00 |
| 6 | GIBBONS Ryan | Lidl-Trek | 55 | + 00 |
| 7 | TURGIS Anthony | TotalEnergies | 45 | + 00 |
| 8 | WRIGHT Fred | Bahrain Victorious | 40 | + 00 |
| 9 | ARANBURU Alex | Movistar Team | 35 | + 00 |
| 10 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Soudal Quick-Step | 30 | + 00 |
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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💚 WINNER BINIAM GIRMAY 💚 💛 UNBELIEVABLE TEAMWORK 💙 #TDF2024
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