Eritrean cyclist Biriam Girmay has produced one of the all-time ‘from epic high to epic low moments’ after injuring himself on the winner’s podium at the Giro D’Italia yesterday.
Girmay had made history by becoming the very first black African to win a stage on a Grand Tour.
However, his prosecco popping skills let him down as he fired the bottle cork directly into his eye and today announced that he would have to abandon the tour as a result.
The unfortunate moment Biniam Girmay popped a Prosecco cork in his own eye on the winners' podium at the Giro d'Italia 🍾
We hope to see him back in action soon ❤️#Giro | @GrmayeBiniam pic.twitter.com/TSwQpW5wQ8— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 18, 2022
🔻 LAST KM / STAGE 1️⃣0⃣
🇪🇷 An unbelievable last km to step into history.
🇪🇷 Un incredibile ultimo km per entrare nella storia.
Powered by @ItaliaNFT_art #Giro pic.twitter.com/m8XGgiMRkx— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 17, 2022
It is an incredibly disappointing turn of events not just for Girmay, but for cycling as a sport, given the magnitude of his stage win, and hopefully he will be back to suit up for the Tour de France.
“It’s unbelievable,” Girmay said, following his stage victory. “I thank the team. We started the race well, we controlled it. I don’t have any words for my team.”
“When I started the Giro we had the possibility to win and make good results – this is also part of the success of our team, my family and everybody. Every day comes new history so I’m really grateful and happy that I did it.”
Girmay had taken on and beaten Dutch cyclist Mathieu Van Der Poel in a sprint finish in the 10th stage of the Giro, while Spain’s Juan Pedro Lopez currently leads the tour in the overall classification.
Girmay had also made history when he became the first African to win a Belgian cobbled classic at the Gent-Wevelgem race in March.
The clip of his prosecco mishap gives off similar energy to the late and great Bill O’Herlihy’s attempt to pop a bottle on RTE many moons ago.
Thankfully the more experienced Eamonn Dunphy took the bottle off him and gave us the classic quip of “now that’s how you open champagne Bill and now I’ll show you how to drink it”.
“Bill you’re not used to champagne, let me do that” pic.twitter.com/KnnUWDrbsH
— Irish Football Pics (@irish_pics) May 17, 2022
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