This year has started out really well for me. I am really happy with how things have gone. My first race was La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon where I finished second on the last stage and fifth overall. We then travelled to Tour de Langkawi. The race turned out really well for us. We had Sergio Pardilla finish third overall, we won the team competition and I finished 9th. The annual Queen stage of the race, Genting highlands was really tough as always. Sergio was brilliant and finished fourth. I went hard early on and was fourth for most of the climb but got caught in the last 2 kilomtres by Sergio and two other guys to eventually finish seventh.
It was really encouraging because a number of WorldTour teams started the race. The team did very well as we had five guys in the top 30 throughout the race so it wasn’t surprising that we won best team prize.
From there I went back to South Africa to prepare for Tour de Taiwan, a race we just finished. I am really happy right now as I got my first professional victory in this race. It’s really great too as it’s the first victory for Ethiopia in professional cycling. It was on stage 5. We finished up a hill. I won’t call it a mountain as the stage profiles were maybe a little misleading. We sent a team of climbers to the race but none of the hills were really long or steep enough for us to make a real difference so we just decided we would be aggressive and try to take the racing to everyone.
My teammate Louis Meintjes and I were both in the top ten going into stage 5. He was second on GC so the plan up the last “hill” was for me to attack then hopefully the other GC guys would be watching him. I went with 5km to go but they reacted and brought me back. I attacked again with 3km to go when the road kicked up and this time got a gap. It was nice to hear the race leader say they were all in the red and couldn’t respond. I was feeling very strong and just rode solo to the end. That’s the best way to win I have been told haha. I will remember that day forever. I am really happy that African cycling is growing. The World Cycling Centre in South Africa run by JP van Zyl is really making a difference. From there, African riders now have the opportunity to ride for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung. This was only a dream of our team owner Doug Ryder a few years ago now the world can see that Africa can compete with the best in the world.
I am back in South Africa after the race. I am hoping to go to Ethiopia for a bit to celebrate with my family and friends. I know they will be proud of me as they have supported me for a long time. I am hoping this victory will also show the other Ethiopians on our feeder team that anything is possible. There is a lot more to come from Ethiopia. Watch this space.
My next race is the Giro de Trentino in Italy. I know racing will be harder in Europe for sure but I am ready for it.
Tsgabu Grmay won stage 5
All photos: Aaron Lee/Tour de Taiwan
