Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru (Tigrinya: እየሩ ተስፎም ገብሩ; born 10 December 1996) is an Ethiopian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team Team Komugi–Grand Est.[1][2] She rode in the women's road race and time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in 2017, 2018 and 2020. She competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris for the Refugee Olympic Team.[3]
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru |
Born | Aksum, Tigray Region, Ethiopia | 10 December 1996
Team information | |
Current team | Team Komugi–Grand Est |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Amateur team | |
2018 | UCI WCC Women's Team |
Professional teams | |
2019–2020 | WCC Team |
2023– | Team Grand Est–Komugi–La Fabrique |
Biography
editGebru was born in Aksum and is Tigrayan. At 16, she joined the local Ketema Axum Cycling Club. The following year, she relocated to Tigray's cycling capital Mekelle, where she was selected for the Messebo Sement Factory Cycling Club's women's team.[4]
The Tigray War broke out in 2020. Gebru was separated from her mother and lost some of her friends and family. When a route was opened up between Mekelle and Addis Abbaba in 2021, Gebru fled. She arrived in France in August 2021 ahead of the World Championships in Belgium, but did not to show up in protest as "I did not want to represent my country because it would have been supporting the genocide of my people". She was granted asylum in July 2022,[5] and has since lived in Nice and near Nancy.[4]
Major results
edit- 2015
- 3rd Team time trial, African Games
- 2016
- 2nd Team time trial, African Road Championships
- National Road Championships
- 2nd Road race
- 2nd Time trial
- 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships
- 9th KZN Summer Series Race 1
- 2017
- African Road Championships
References
edit- ^ "Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Tsgabu opens 2020 season with two tour races in Spain". Ethio Cycling. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Mitchell, Mathew (16 February 2024). "Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru Chosen as Torchbearer for Paris 2024 Olympics • ProCyclingUK.com". ProCyclingUK.com. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ a b Marshall-Bell, Chris (4 September 2023). "'Cycling saved my life' - Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru on facing civil war and a message of hope through pro racing as a refugee". Cycling News. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru: the UCI World Cycling Centre's Olympic torch bearer". UCI. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
External links
edit- Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru at UCI
- Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru at Cycling Archives
- Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru at ProCyclingStats
- Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru at Cycling Quotient