Biniam Girmay’s teammates reportedly refused UK visas, as Eritrean star pulls out of Glasgow world championships citing injury

UPDATE: Biniam Girmay is understood to have been granted a UK visa last Thursday ahead of this weekend’s world road race championships in Glasgow, a race the Eritrean star will nonetheless be unable to participate in due to injuries he sustained in a high-speed crash at the Clasica San Sebastián on Saturday.

A source with knowledge of the application process told road.cc that Girmay was issued with a UK visa on Thursday 27 July, the day before another member of the Eritrea team had their application approved.

However, the visa status of the other three Eritrean riders who have been reportedly denied entry to the UK, Natnael Tesfatsion, Merhawi Kudus, and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, remains unclear, with a spokesperson for the Home Office saying earlier today that the department does not “routinely comment on individual cases”.

A Home Office spokesperson told road.cc: “All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in line with the Immigration Rules. We have been working closely with the organisers to ensure that participants of this event are clear on the visa application process and timelines.”

While Girmay may have been, contrary to initial reports, issued with a visa last week, he will not be making the trip to Scotland for the world road race championships – one of the 23-year-old’s big targets for the season – after sustaining a hip injury and experiencing “severe pain” in a crash the Clasica San Sebastián.

“I’m of course very disappointed to withdraw from the selection for the World Championships, which were a main goal for this season since last winter,” Girmay, who took silver in the U23 men’s road race at the 2021 world championships in Leuven, said in a statement this morning.

“I had a good feeling after the Tour de France, but my crash in the Clasica San Sebastián caused too severe pain to be able to defend my chances in the worlds.

“My priority is now to recover from this crash and then the preparation for the last part of the season, with nice goals in one day races such as the Grand Prix de Plouay and Canadian classics.”

The Giro d’Italia stage winner’s Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team refused to comment on the rumours surrounding their rider’s visa application earlier today, and instead emphasised that “our priority now is the health of Biniam Girmay”.

See original article below:

Biniam Girmay has pulled out of the UCI world road race championships in Glasgow on Sunday, citing the injuries he sustained in a high-speed crash at the Clasica San Sebastián on Saturday as the reason for his last-minute withdrawal – just hours after reports emerged that the 23-year-old, along with three of his teammates on the Eritrean national team, had been denied visas to the UK.

With his classics pedigree and finishing kick, Gent-Wevelgem and Giro d’Italia stage winner Girmay, despite missing out on a stage win at his debut Tour de France last month, would have started Sunday’s road race as one of the favourites on the punchy Glasgow city centre circuit.

However, the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider confirmed this morning that “severe pain” in his hip, stemming from a crash at over 60kph at the Clasica San Sebastián, has forced him to pull out of the Glasgow worlds, his major target for the 2023 season.

> Biniam Girmay makes African cycling history at Gent-Wevelgem

Girmay’s withdrawal, notably, comes just hours after reports emerged that the 23-year-old, along with three of his Eritrean teammates, were denied visas to the UK, putting their spots in the road race in jeopardy.

According to GCN, Girmay, Natnael Tesfatsion, Merhawi Kudus, and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (all WorldTour riders) were refused visas, and are currently re-applying for entry to the UK with just four days to go until the peloton leaves Edinburgh on Sunday morning.

Girmay celebrates with Natnael Tesfatsion after becoming the first black African to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia last year (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The report also noted that three members of the seven-rider team, Natnael Berhane, Henok Mulubrahn, and Dawit Yemane, have been granted visas, with one of the team submitting their application last Monday and having it approved the following Friday.

It is currently unclear on which grounds the visa applications for the four other riders were denied. 

Responding to road.cc’s request for comment, the Home Office said that “we do not routinely comment on individual cases”.

The department’s spokesperson told road.cc: “All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in line with the Immigration Rules. We have been working closely with the organisers to ensure that participants of this event are clear on the visa application process and timelines.”

The Eritrean Cycling Federation has also been contacted, but is yet to respond.

EF Education-EasyPost’s Kudus, one of the riders affected by the team’s visa issues, appeared to confirm the reports this morning, retweeting the original article with the caption “Sad!!”

Girmay’s Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team, meanwhile, has told road.cc that it is also unable to comment on the rumours and that “our priority now is the health of Biniam Girmay”.

Nevertheless, Intermarché’s social media team did appear to allude to the reports this morning, retweeting an older post gently mocking both the squad’s plethora of sponsors and Lizz Truss’ brief spell as UK Prime Minister. The retweet has since been deleted, however.

The squad then posted a rather more official account of Girmay’s withdrawal, which they say is due to contusions and pain in his hip, sustained during Saturday’s spill in the Basque Country.

“I’m of course very disappointed to withdraw from the selection for the World Championships, which were a main goal for this season since last winter,” Girmay, who took silver in the U23 men’s road race at the 2021 world championships in Leuven, said in a statement.

“I had a good feeling after the Tour de France, but my crash in the Clasica San Sebastián caused too severe pain to be able to defend my chances in the worlds.

“My priority is now to recover from this crash and then the preparation for the last part of the season, with nice goals in one day races such as the Grand Prix de Plouay and Canadian classics.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

While Girmay’s statement ignores the visa-shaped elephant in the room, visas have long proved tricky obstacles for riders from Africa to navigate, often acting as a barrier to turning professional in Europe. When it comes to the world championships in Scotland, this issue is made even more difficult for the continent’s Europe-based riders following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The Eritrean team’s anxious wait this week isn’t the first time that visa issues have scuppered riders’ hopes at the worlds. Last year, American Lawson Craddock missed out on representing his country in Wollongong after a host of complications and delays saw his visa finally come through 20 minutes after his flight to Australia had departed.