Why hasn’t there been an Ethiopian winner of the Tour de France yet?
Ethiopia’s extensive success in marathons and numerous long-distance running races might make you think that cycling teams are scouring the nation for their next Tour de France winner — weirdly, they’re not doing that
Reporting by cycling correspondent Anna Bolick
Between the 1996 and 2008 Olympics only Ethiopians won gold in the men’s 10,000 metres and between 1960 and 1968 only Ethiopians won the men’s Olympic marathon.
Of their 54 Olympic medals all have been in long-distance events.
So clearly these fellas have an innate capability to run long distances at speeds higher than Europeans, North Americans and South Americans, with their closest rivals being Kenyans.
So why on earth has an Ethiopian never won the Tour de France, a race made up mostly of Europeans, North Americans and South Americans?
Yes this particular race takes place on a bike rather than two legs but surely Ethiopians are able to ride a bike? And surely their genetic disposition making them amazing at running would transfer over to cycling?
And don’t start about the tactics in each race, it isn’t so complicated that it would be impossible for an Ethiopian to pick it up would it?
And imagine how incredible an Ethiopian would be if they employed the same strict doping regime that Lance Armstrong had — no one would have a chance.
In the 2019 tour the only racers from the African continent were a couple South Africans and an Eritrean while the Wikipedia page for ‘Ethiopian male cyclists’ lists only 32 entries.
So what is the reason for teams refusing to mine the depths of Africa for a steady stream of cycling phenomenons?
Of course it can’t be as simple as individual Ethiopians having freedom of choice and they’re generally not that interested in cycling, it is always something more sinister and, of course, racism is involved as usual.
The one Eritrean we mentioned earlier is currently the only black man involved in the race and there appears to be a deliberate effort to keep the race as white as possible.
“I think perhaps the white Europeans know that if blacks were freely allowed in the race we’d dominate,” says Ethiopian professional cyclist Smiley Gabrisalassy.
“As we all know by now white supremacy is ingrained into all Western institutions and the Tour de France is no exception. Inevitably they are then going to design the system to benefit whites and create more obstacles for cyclists of colour.”
And as one Ethiopian has ventured an explanation that broadly conforms to a worldview that we already subscribe to, we shan’t be investigating further and accepting the conclusion that there hasn’t been an Ethiopian winner of the Tour because old white Europeans have deliberately tailored the system to stop Africans being successful.
Can we provide any evidence that this is the case in the running of cycling’s governing bodies? Certainly not.
But one black man has said it is as such so it is our duty as white oppressors to accept their experience as truth. After all, what incentive does he have to lie?
