This was published 8 years ago
Out of Africa ... Eritreans ride into the spotlight of Tour de France success
FOUGERES: Gerry Ryan recalls his first meeting Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot, who this week became the first African to wear the red and white polka dot jersey as leader of the King of the Mountains category in the Tour de France.
It was before the 2012 season. Teklehaimanot, then a fresh signing for the Australian Orica-GreenEDGE team's debut, was in Australia for a training camp in Canberra.
Pioneer: Daniel Teklehaimanot of Eritrea tackles the Tour de France.Credit: Getty Images
"He had pair of shorts, T-shirt and toothbrush. No bag," says Ryan, the team owner and successful Melbourne businessman, smiling. "We outfitted him and away we went from there.
"To see him on the bike now gives us a lot satisfaction. It was a punt. It worked."
As Ryan speaks, he is standing outside the South African MTN-Qhubeka team that Teklehaimanot, 26, is riding as one of two Eritreans on their Tour line-up, the other being Merhawi Kudus, 21 and a pure climber rated as a potential grand tour contender
It is shortly before Friday's 190.5km seventh stage from Livarot to Fougeres rolls out.
Since the Tour began in Utrecht last Saturday, MTN-Qhubeka has been greeted at stage starts by African supporters outside the team bus, many bearing Eritrean flags and cheering for Teklehaimanot and Kudus, and breaking into a roar when they come out.
MTN-Qhubeka team manager Doug Ryder says the Eritrean pair has embraced the response: "They love it. They are national heroes now. This is lifting the whole continent up."
On Friday, when Teklehaimanot emerges from the team bus wearing the polka dot jersey he claimed in Thursday's sixth stage to Le Havre, the crowd again swarms in towards the bus.
Teklehaimanot, one of 12 siblings (six sisters and six brothers) and raised on his parents' farm near the market town of Debarwa 25km south of the Eritrean capital of Asmara, says of his feat at the Tour on Thursday after winning the climbers' jersey at the recent Criterium du Dauphine in France: "I was really proud yesterday on the podium. For the team and myself it is really important.
"I was very happy to wear this jersey. The team is really happy."
The only dampener for Teklehaimanot and his team is the racial slur made against the third Eritrean on their roster at this week's Tour of Austria - Natnael Berhane – for which the Belarusian rider, Branislau Samoilau (CCC Sprandi Pokowice) has had to pay a fine of one month's salary to the Qhubeka charity that provides bikes to African students.
Teklehaimanot will not comment on the issue, but it does not stop him from defending the polka dot jersey in.
With street smarts and gumption, he slips into a break as he did on Thursday to claim more climbers' points on the road to Fougeres.
Teklehaimanot's story is a great one. And understandably, Orica-GreenEDGE is proud for having played a role in helping develop his professional career in its infancy.
Teklehaimanot began cycling in 2005 as a mountain biker, but after placing fifth overall in the 2008 Tour of the Ivory Coast road tour he was invited to join the Union Cycliste Internationale's World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland of which its charter is to develop cycling in underprivileged nations like Eritrea that gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year civil war.
In Africa, Teklehaimanot is a star. He has won a swag of titles there, year after year.
At the WCC, he impressed before signing in late 2011 with Orica-GreenEDGE for 2012 and 2013. In those two years he developed his technique, positioning, tactics, nutritional knowledge, physical development; and his command of English – his mother tongue is Tigrinya, a Semitic language.
But he still made reassuring inroads. In 2013 he finished his first grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana and even won a race – the Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia in Spain.
The one problem for Teklehaimanot was getting an exit visa to leave Eritrea and race.
That led Orica-GreenEDGE suggesting MTN-Qhubeka sign him up when his contract expired.
It was thought that Teklehaimanot would be a strong asset for the new South African team that would also have stronger diplomatic channels to sort out his visa issues.
Today, Teklehaimanot, Kudus and Berhane all have exit visas to leave Eritrea.
"We would have loved to have kept Daniel," says Bannan.
"But the best decision for Dan to develop was to go to MTN-Qhubeka."
Seeing Teklehaimanot at the Tour, who could argue?