Biniam Girmay Wins Men’s Elite Title at the Africa Cycling Excellence Awards in Kigali

Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay has won the Men’s Elite title at the inaugural Africa Cycling Excellence Awards(ACEA), held on 29 November 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda. The honour places him at the top of the continent’s rankings for 2025 and further solidifies his reputation as Africa’s most accomplished rider on the global stage.

The awards marked the first continent-wide initiative dedicated to celebrating African cycling. Delegates from national federations, UCI-linked bodies, and invited athletes gathered in Kigali for a ceremony aimed at recognising the sport’s leading performers. Shared results from the event list Girmay as the Men’s Elite winner for Eritrea, alongside categories for rising riders, national teams, coaches, and long-form contributors to the discipline.

The win caps what has already been a defining season for the 25-year-old. Girmay has maintained a strong competitive profile on the WorldTour while navigating sustained speculation around a possible team transfer — rumours that have only heightened interest in his next move. Through all of it, he has remained one of the continent’s most consistent and influential riders, carrying expectations with composure and authority.

Eritrea’s dominance was underscored once again with the country taking home the Nation Award — a recognition that speaks not only to the strength of its top riders but to the depth of the system behind them. For years, Eritrean cycling has produced results that few on the continent can match, and this award simply formalises what the sport’s followers have long understood.

That presence was felt throughout the ceremony in Kigali. Team Eritrea appeared across multiple categories, a reminder of a road-racing culture that keeps renewing itself with new talent season after season. For many observers, the first edition of ACEA didn’t reveal anything new so much as it confirmed a truth already written in decades of competition: Eritrea sits at the centre of African cycling excellence.

Rwanda, meanwhile, used the event to reinforce its growing role as a regional hub for the sport. With sustained investments in infrastructure and the annual UCI 2.1 Tour du Rwanda, Kigali has steadily positioned itself as a meeting point for African cycling, hosting conferences, training programmes, and now a continental awards platform.

More formal summaries of the 2025 results are expected to be published by ACEA organisers, although most category winners — including Girmay — have already been widely shared across official and community channels.