Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru Explained

Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru
Fullname:Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru
Birth Date:10 December 1996
Birth Place:Aksum, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Discipline:Road
Role:Rider
Amateuryears1:2018
Proyears1:2019–2020
Proyears2:2023–

Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru (; born 10 December 1996) is an Ethiopian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team .[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]

Biography

Gebru 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

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
  • 2nd Team time trial
  • 7th Time trial
    2018
  • African Road Championships
  • 1st Team time trial
  • 3rd Time trial
  • 4th Road race
    2019
  • African Road Championships
  • 1st Team time trial
  • 2nd Time trial
  • 2nd Road race

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru . ProCyclingStats . 24 September 2020.
    2. Web site: Tsgabu opens 2020 season with two tour races in Spain . Ethio Cycling . 24 September 2020.
    3. Web site: Mitchell . Mathew . 2024-02-16 . Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru Chosen as Torchbearer for Paris 2024 Olympics • ProCyclingUK.com . 2024-07-18 . ProCyclingUK.com . en-GB.
    4. Web site: 'Cycling saved my life' - Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru on facing civil war and a message of hope through pro racing as a refugee. Cycling News. Chris. Marshall-Bell. 4 September 2023. 28 July 2024.
    5. Web site: Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru: the UCI World Cycling Centre's Olympic torch bearer. UCI. 16 January 2024. 28 July 2024.