#GPNews16/7 - Biniam Girmay in touch with green as Tour de France enters second week
+ Mulubrhan wins Qinghai Lake, World Cycling Centre at the Tour and all the racing you've missed out on
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Apologies for the slight pause in the schedule. I’m back after a short break with the family in northern France. We visited the Tour on stage 4 in Rouen and witnessed Tadej Pogačar’s 100th career victory, before some Disneyland fun/chaos. But I’m back now and ready for the second half of the Tour!
Loads has happened in the last couple of weeks, both at the Tour and away from it. A reminder that I have recently slashed my annual paid subscription free, so make sure you are signed up for less than a pound/dollar/euro a week to get full access to Global Peloton.
Enjoy,
Dan
Girmay still in with a shout at green at Tour de France
There can be little doubt that Biniam Girmay has been off the pace of the 2025 Tour de France’s best sprinters. However, the Eritrean’s versatility means that he is still in touch with Italian Jonathan Milan’s hold over the points classification as Paris begins to loom larger.
Milan and his Belgian rival Tim Merlier look a cut above the rest on the flatter sprints, with Milan winning stage 8 and Merlier 3 and 9. After a surprisingly selective stage 11, Milan continues to hold his lead in the green jersey standings on 231 points, with Girmay down in fourth on 154. There is still plenty of road ahead for the reigning champion to catch up.
Read more: Will Biniam Girmay defend his Tour de France green jersey?
Girmay was hampered by a crash early on in the race, but has also struggled due to being isolated at key moments. His team, which already looked under-powered coming into the race, have been hobbled by illness and injury, and German champion Georg Zimmerman pulled out before the start of stage 10. Girmay’s best result so far was 2nd on the opening day. He also has two sixth places from stages 3 and 9.
With ten days of the race left, Intermarché-Wanty need to deliver for Girmay if they want him to challenge for stage wins and points. Looking at what’s left to come, there may only be three more chances for a rider of the Eritrean’s qualities to contest for victory and close the deficit.
Henok Mulubrhan wins Qinghai for second time
XDS-Astana’s three-time African champion Henok Mulubrhan became a two-time winner at China’s second biggest men’s race, which has been renamed in 2025 as the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai.
The 25-year-old first won the .PRO race in 2023 and took out the 2025 edition in a tightly-contested battle with Uruguayan Thomas Silva, one of the breakthrough riders of the season so far.
Silva led the race early on after winning the second stage and held the jersey until stage 7, when Mulubrhan took time bonuses with a third-place finish the day after winning a tough stage into Gonghe.
This race is famed for its high altitude and the course regularly climbed above 3000 metres, reaching its highest point of 3740 metres above sea level on the day Mulubrhan won.
“This victory means a lot to me,” Mulubrhan said after the race. “Several months ago, we were discussing my race program with team coaches and Qinghai was my big goal. I knew that I should be here for the victory.”
“This week we were very focused on taking the leader’s jersey and acted according to our plan. We had a very good race, finishing first and third in the general classification proves that. Everyone played his part in achieving this perfectly. I am grateful for all the team members for their work and support.”
As is often the case at Qinghai, there was little to cheer about in terms of local Chinese success. Although development is happening in the world’s second-most populous nation, progress is slow. Just six Chinese riders finished the race, which was full of teams from all over the world looking to score precious UCI points. Sprinter Kuicheng Wang was China’s best stage finisher with 6th on day 3.
'Race for 20 million Afghan women' The life story of Fariba Hashimi
"For 20 million Afghan women." That phrase is explicitly tattooed on Fariba Hashimi's arm. She shows it to me halfway through our conversation at the KOERS museum, because she remains proud to be Afghan. And she wants to inspire other women from her country. The cyclist tells me this the morning after she completed Liège-Bastogne-Liège. She speaks for over an hour, calm, determined, and occasionally emotional, with tears in her eyes.
Read full article on servicekoers.be
'This is a day I will never forget' - A look back at Daniel Teklehaimanot's milestone moment at the Tour de France
It's been ten years since Daniel Teklehaimanot wrote his name into cycling's history books as the first Black rider to wear a special classification jersey in the 112-year history of the Tour de France. Cyclingnews looks back on this achievement on July 9 while speaking with Biniam Girmay, Doug Ryder, and others from the French Grand Tour.
Read full article on Cyclingnews
Top young African talents visit the Tour de France with UCI World Cycling Centre
The UCI already made arrangements for an additional 23rd team to race each Grand Tour this season, but on stage seven of the Tour de France a 24th squad was announced to the crowd before the peloton made their way to the finish on the Mur de Bretagne.
Twelve young African riders, all part of the UCI World Cycling Centre’s ‘Africa 2025’ program, got to experience the Tour as it made its way past their training base in Brittany. After a photo-op on the sign-on podium, the riders met Biniam Girmay - the only African rider in this year’s Tour de France - before heading to ride the famous final climb ahead of the professionals.
"Weeks out from the first-ever UCI Road World Championships to be held in Africa, it is fantastic to see young, up-and-coming riders from the continent soaking up the atmosphere of the Tour de France and taking part in this event,” said UCI President David Lappartient.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale and its World Cycling Centre (UCI WCC) have developed and implemented a robust strategy to prepare these young cyclists for the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda. This singular experience during stage 11 of the Tour, which will continue in a few days in the opener of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, is an extra boost of motivation for these talented riders who are zooming up the learning curve,” Lappartient added.
These young riders have been spending time training and racing in northern France for the past few months, and with some good success. Young Eritrean rider Awet Aman has won multiple times in smaller races in France and compatriot Yafiet Mulugeta was 8th overall in the Tour des Mauges in May.
Race Round-up
Continuing a strong Eritrean theme this week, there was a breakthrough performance for Ksanet Weldemikael of the UCI World Cycling Centre team at the Volta a Portugal Feminina. The 23-year-old was consistently strong on the tough course to finish 18th overall - her best result so far in her debut European season
In Japan, the 1.2 Road Race Tokyo Tama was won by Solution Tech-Vini Fantini’s Lorenzo Quartucci
There was a double UCI race weekend in Türkiye. Both the Kahramanmaras Grand Prix and Grand Prix Edebiyat Yolu were won by Greek champion Nikoforos Arvanitou
In China, the Chengdu Tianfu Greenway two-day race was dominated by the local Chengdu DYC Cycling Team, with Russian rider Timofei Ivanov leading home a 1-2-3-4.
Other Bits…
Red Walters goes through his set up for the Grenada national championships
Kim Le Court-Pienaar reflects on her Giro d’Italia Women stage win from last season
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