On Tuesday, Biniam Girmay was the first African professional cyclist with dark skin to win a stage in one of the three major tours. Yesterday the 22-year-old didn’t even start the eleventh stage – he gave up. At the award ceremony on Tuesday, the Eritrean shot the cork right in the left eye when opening the Prosecco bottle. “Biniam suffered a hemorrhage in the anterior chamber of the eye. To avoid the risk of the bleeding spreading and to minimize the internal pressure of the eye, we advised it,” said team doctor Piet Daneels. Girmay was correspondingly disappointed: “I was very sad about what happened at the awards ceremony, but when I got to the hotel the whole team cheered me up.”
First Italian victory
In yesterday’s eleventh stage, Alberto Dainese celebrated the first Italian day’s victory in this year’s Giro. The 24-year-old prevailed in the sprint after 203 kilometers in Reggio Emilia. The Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez defended his overall lead.
Patrick Gamper (65th) arrived as the best Austrian with the field at the finish, Matthias Brändle (126th / +23 seconds), Felix Gall (140th / +49 seconds) and Tobias Bayer (165th / +4: 55 min.) arrived with a deficit.
Source: Nachrichten
