In the summer of 2018, teenager Remco Evenpoel dominated junior races in and out of Belgium with almost absurd ease. Two weeks after casually winning the European Championships by nearly 10 minutes, he lined up as the overwhelming favorite to win the Auber Chimister Stavelo stage race.

The 90-km opening stage through the hills of Liège seemed like the perfect course for this new European champion talent. And he swept past the awe-inspiring peloton. Biniam Girmay kicked the previously impregnable Evenpoel out of the way with impunity.

In other words, it was not the first time the Belgian giant was beaten by Guillemay in Ghent-Wevelgem, and he brought Eritrean and African cycling to a historic victory on Sunday with a perfect sprint on the Vanackeres route.

"It's an important race, especially for me and my team, and of course for African cycling," he said. This is a really important moment for us."

Gilmey's talent, already recognized four years ago when he lined up for the UCI World Cycling Center team in a junior race, has grown exponentially since he won silver in the under-23 road race at the World Championships last September. After a strong start to the 2022 season, including a win at Challenge Mallorca, he was considered an outsider ahead of Milan-San Remo, but no one expected him to make such an immediate impact on the cobbles.

In fact, neither Gil May nor his Intermarche-Wanti-Gobert Materio team expected much. He registered for Friday's E3 Saxo Bank Classic primarily to gain experience, but after finishing fifth for the first time on the cobblestones of the Flanders Ardennes (and not having scouted the route beforehand), Gilmay was persuaded by sport director Eike Visbeek, to stay in Belgium for Ghent-Wevelgem.

The original plan was to spend Sunday afternoon in France, competing in the French 1.1 race, La Rue Tourangelle "Off Broadway."

The welcoming manner in which Gil May arrived Sunday morning to sign autographs at the start in Ypres suggested that the 21-year-old was already a top World Tour athlete. He rode confidently through each Kemmelberg and minimized the damage done by the popular Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma), who tore the race apart with a furious acceleration on the cobblestone hill in the final stages.

"It wasn't an easy race," said van Aert. "I suffered many times and lost positions. ...... There were a lot of crashes up front and back again. But the team did a really good job. They trusted me and gave me really good chances and positions."

"I didn't know about the race, but I had the DS radio so I knew exactly every corner. But without experience, it's not an easy race."

After Van Aert's onslaught died down, Gilmay showed good tactical instincts by rejoining the lead group with 27km to go and following the move of his Belgian champion teammate, Christophe Laporte, just 3km later. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Dries Van Gestel (Total Energies) caught up with them, and the winning move suddenly took shape.

Wevelgem's endless goal straight decisions have proven to be out of the control of players with far more experience than Girmay over the years, but in the final decision his judgment was perfect. He sat at the tail end of the group of four, and with just under 250 meters to go, he made a sharp acceleration. Dangerman's Laporte, who led the sprint, was hard to catch. The victory belonged to Gilmey.

"I didn't think I could win. Even with 1km to go to the finish, I knew I had to keep fighting for the top three because Christophe Laporte is one of the best sprinters and I was a little tired," Gilmey said. [But when I saw 400 or 300 to go, I thought, 'Okay, maybe I can win. When I saw 250 to go, I didn't want to wait. If I waited, they might accelerate and not give me the space. So I closed my eyes and kept going."

Eritrea's cycling tradition is old, and like Colombia in the past, it seemed to exist almost in isolation from European sports for generations.

Over the past decade or so, riders such as Daniel Teklehaimanot, Melhawi Kudus, and Natnael Berhane have graced the World Tour peloton, but Girmay's victory in Ghent-Wevelgem was the first African victory in a cobbled classic and an Eritrean milestone in the cycling story.

"When asked to compare this victory to his silver medal at the Leuven World Championships, Girmay said. 'I was on the podium, but I didn't win. Today I'm winning. It's totally different."

Girmay received a great welcome when he returned to Eritrea at the end of last season, and he is expected to receive a similar welcome when he returns to Asmara on Tuesday.

"Only Vinyam himself and his family can decide. There is no pressure from us," Visbek said.

At the post-race press conference, Girmay's answer was polite but firm. 'No, I have to go home. I really want to stay here, but I haven't seen my family for three months and I have to go home, I already made this plan back in December."

Gil May will use his time in Eritrea to train at altitude in preparation for his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia in May, warming up for the Corsa Rosa on May 1 in Eschborn-Frankfurt. on May 1 in Eschborn-Frankfurt. The team will warm up for Corsa Rosa.

"I really like this race, where you suffer and fight for positions. In the future, I'll be able to run more Flanders Classics."

Needless to say, he can win the classics too.