Watch: Biniam Girmay Withdraws From Giro d’Italia After Podium Celebration Mishap
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster ride. Yet, also one that can be summed up in a few words: Biniam Girmay made history on stage 10 of the 2022 Giro d’Italia, then 15 minutes later fired a champagne cork into his own eye on the victory podium.
He will not make the start line of the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia Santarcangelo di Romagna. After the podium ceremony, the Eritrean rider was immediately taken to hospital in Jesi for medical examinations. These examinations revealed damage in the left eye, which require the utmost care and rest.
In consultation with the medical and sporting staff, the team has withdrawn Biniam Girmay from the race. He leaves with a stage victory, a second place, and three other top five finishes.
Watch the Incident
Girmay and Team Statements
“Following an incident on the podium, medical examinations revealed a hemorrhage in the anterior chamber of the left eye of Biniam Girmay. His injury is evolving in the right direction and will be followed up by a medical team in the next days. In order to minimize the risk of expansion of the hemorrhage and the intraocular pressure, it is strongly recommended to avoid physical activity. Our priority is a complete healing of the injury and that’s why we decided together with the rider and the sports direction that Biniam will not appear at the start of the eleventh stage.” Piet Daneels (Team Doctor).
“From the opening stage, Biniam Girmay showed that we were right to believe in our chances to win a stage. It is remarkable to see how his teammates go though fire each day to obtain the best possible result and how happy everyone is to work with him. So his victory brought out an intense feeling of euphoria within the team. The news about the incident felt like a cold shower, but Biniam joined us now and we celebrated the victory together. It is of course a pity to loose an element like Biniam, but the advice of the medical team is clear and the health of Biniam is our priority. However, I stay optimistic because the whole team is making an excellent impression since the start of the race. Rein Taaramäe, for example, proved on the Etna that we can be in the mix for the stage win by anticipating, just like last year. I also saw that several riders grew during the first week. In each of the next stages, we’ll try to seize opportunities. We’ll also continue to focus on the general classification of Domenico Pozzovivo. With his current form and his experience, his chances to finish among the ten best riders are realistic. With Jan Hirt we even have a second rider in the top fifteen of the provisional classification and in the past we have seen that his best performances occur in the third week. This Wednesday we will start with one asset less, but our determination remains unchanged!” Valerio Piva (Sports Director)