Eritrea is renowned for the hidden talents of its athletes in the cycling community. This ability has amazed many just as Bernard Hinault.  Bernard Hinault is a former French cyclist who won the Tour de France five times. It is a great honour to win a stage let alone to win the competition five times, which is no small feat.

Bernard Hinault is the chairperson of the committee of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, a 2.1 road cycling race held in Gabon, making it one of the biggest race in Africa. One of its many advantages is that many cycling teams from France and other European countries take part in this competition. Hinault and fellow members are the ones that nominate Africa's best cycling athlete. To do this, they take into account the athletes performance and added points in various competitions in the whole year. This award is identical to Ballon d'Or given to the best male player in football.

Accordingly, Biniam Ghirmay was bestowed the title in 2020 accumulating  top point for his many international victories and was given major vote by the 25 membered committee. One of the members is Thomas Voeckler, the current trainer of the National cycling team of France. Voeckler is a former French professional road racing cyclist, who was before few years a team mate of Nathnael Berhane in French cycling team. Other members of the committee include renowned cycling journalists.

In this year's Amissa Bongo race, Biniam won in two stages. He also put in an excellent performance with his French team Nipa Delko Van Provence. Moreover, he succeeded in placing second in an important Italian cycling race, La gulia?

Another important accomplishment in this year's ranking was that a young cycling athlete, Nathnael Tesfatsion was nominated in second place. Out of the top 10, five best cycling athletes are Eritreans.

Ranking of the top 10 best cyclists of Africa 2020  

1. Biniam Ghirmay- Eritrea
2. Nathnael Tesfatsion- Eritrea
3. Moise Mugisha - Rwanda
4. Henok Muluberhan- Eritrea
5. Daryl Impey - South Africa
6. Paul Daumont- Burkina Faso
7. Clovis Kamzong- Cameron
8. Youcef Reguigui- Algeria
9. Yacob Debesay- Eritrea
10. Mulu Hailemichael - Ethiopia

In the past nine years, Eritrea has dominated the African cycling ranking. Five Eritrean cycling athletes were awarded Best cyclists.

2012 Nathnael Berhane- Eritrea

2013 Louis Meintjes- South Africa

2014 Mekseb Debessay - Eritrea

2015 Daniel Teklehaimanot - Eritrea

2016 Tesfom Okbamariam- Eritrea

2017 Louis Meintjes - South Africa

2018 Joseph Areruya- Rwanda

2019 Daryl Impey - South Africa

2020 Biniam Ghirmay- Eritrea