Grmay makes history for Ethiopia

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The 25th Tour de Taiwan will remain in the history of cycling globalization for the first-ever international victory by an Ethiopian cyclist. Coming from a country known for his world-class runners, Tsgabu Grmay of MTN-Qhubeka made a big impact by winning stage 5 in style after finishing 5th overall at the Tropicale Amissa-Bongo and 9th at Le Tour de Langkawi at the age of only 21.

The former pupil of the Potchefstroom-based African UCI Continental Center and the World Cycling Center in Aigle in 2011 attacked uphill with 3km to go and made it all the way to the finish in an attempt that helped him move up to second on GC, 27 seconds down on race leader Bernard Sulzberger. The under-23 African time trial champion prolonged an effort made at the front of the bunch by his team-mate Louis Meintjes who was already very convincing the day before and proved once again that MTN-Qhubeka has a lot of young talents in its roster.

“This tactic was absolutely planned,” Grmay explained. “We don’t have a sprinter at MTN-Qhubeka here, so we have to attack to try and win. It was also part of the plan to have someone like Dennis in the break earlier on. Once I got a gap, I gave everything I could. This is my first pro season, so it makes me so happy to collect my first victory. I’m happy for Africa and for Ethiopia.”

“I’m definitely impressed by him, when he attacked with 3km to go, everyone was at the limit,” echoed Sulzberger who didn’t encounter any particular difficulty, tactically speaking, in defending his lead. Drapac sent Thomas Palmer and Robbie Hucker in the first significant breakaway of day after 25 kilometers of racing with Adiq Hussainie (Champion System), Drapac), Anthony Giacoppo (Huon-Genesys), Masahiko Yasui (Shimano), Ian Bibby (Madison) and Dennis van Niekerk (MTN-Qhubeka). The latter refused to be caught by the bunch and re-opened the gas before the junction, soon to be rejoined by two riders from Champion System: the previous day’s winner Zachary Bell and local hero Feng Chun Kai.

The trio stayed away for 85 kilometres with a maximum advantage of 2:10 over the bunch mostly led by Drapac. Feng pursued his effort with Van Niekerk until they got caught with 12km to go. “My main goal was to take the lead of the king of the mountains competition,” the Taiwanese explained, “but I kept going in case there was a chance to go for the stage win as well. I’ve won the KOM here last year already but I feel stronger now. My previous set-up in Taiwan was good but since I’ve joined an international team like Champion System, I’m learning more and faster at the contact of experienced riders.”

Patrick Shaw (Huon) and Jakub Kratochvila (Arbö) tried their luck in the uphill stretch leading to Kanpanzan, a wonderful panorama in the country of Taoyuan. But it was Grmay who found the way to escape and anticipate the sprint by ten seconds. Following his best friend Shahrul Mat Amin’s stage victory on stage 3 in Changhua, Saufi Mat Senan of Terengganu took on board the lesson of his crash last year at the end of this exact same stage of the Tour de Taiwan. This time around, he used the final curves he had studied carefully with his French coach Sébastien Duclos to perfection to take the second place and the time bonus that puts him in the position of best Asian rider ahead of Hong Kong’s Choi Ki Ho.

Asked if he’s afraid of the young guns from MTN-Qhubeka who have captured most of the attention by their aggressive racing style in the past two stages, Sulzberger admitted ahead of stage 6 that he has terrain favorable for big offensives around New Taipei City: “Maybe I should be a little bit… They rode awesome today again and I can’t thank my team enough for the work they’ve done for me. I have to repay them by winning GC.” With Grmay in second place overall and Meintjes in fourth, the first ever African Pro Continental team has two cards to play and won’t surrender until the closing criterium on Sunday morning in Taipei.

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