Mulubrhan, an Eritrean at Bardiani: Nieri presents him

Henok Mulubrhan, young Eritrean rider born in 1999, he became a new rider of the Bardiani CSF FaizanèAt the beginning of February he had conquered the second position in the young people's rankings behind his compatriot Tesfatsion al Tour of Rwanda. Recently, however, he showed great things at the African continental championships. He won the African continental title in the team time trial, second place in the individual event and finally, he won the continental road title.

The Eritrean cycling movement has been growing a lot in recent years, reaching its peak with the victory of Ghirmay at Ghent-Wevelgem. Daniele Nieri has seen many of these athletes pass by in Team Qhubeka, a reality that has allowed these kids to grow and mature to enter the world of professionalism, or at least try.

Daniele, tell us about Henok, when did he arrive in your country?

He came from the UCI center, where he ran for a year, in 2019. So, unlike some of his fellow countrymen, as Tesfatsion (both born in 1999, ed.) already had a little more adaptation to European cycling.

How did you work to adapt it to European cycling?

When African riders come to us, we start by teaching them the basics of cycling. For example: Henok didn't even know that to get supplies you had to call the flagshipI found him at the end of the queue of cars asking me for water. They know that Europe is their big chance and they work really hard.It is no coincidence that the Eritrean movement has grown so much.

Tesfatsion and Mulubrhan were both born in 1999; the former is in his second year as a pro. The latter is starting now. What are the differences?

They ran together at Qhubeka in 2020, they are very close, they will soon move in togetherWe're helping them find homes. They'll probably end up living near my house, between Empoli and Lucca. In my opinion Tesfatsion should have spent another year with us to grow a little more.He came directly from Eritrea and adapting to European cycling is not easy, every now and then he still makes some gross errors, like in Tour of the Alps who was still asking for refueling in the last 5 kilometers…

What about Henok?

Having raced for a year with the UCI center team, he already had something extra. Obviously he also had to go through a long period of adaptation., the main problem with these kids is that when they arrive they don't even speak English, but only their own language. With Qhubeka we have a better management of the situation as we are used to dealing with these guysWe have technicians on staff who speak their language, Zulu, and they help us with translation.

What kind of rider are you?

He's a winner, he has a very strong mentalityHe's one of those who doesn't sleep at night because he thinks about victory, every time he puts the number on his back he does it with the big target in mind. Last year he placed in the top ten many times, came third in the Imola stage at Giro d'Italia Under 23.

Climber, but also fast in time trials…

Of course, like all Eritrean riders, he has an innate ability to go fast uphill. They live at 3.000 meters above sea level, which helps them a lot., they have a different blood oxygenation. In addition they have a large natural gift for long-term performance, cLike the marathon or cycling. He does a very good job in the time trial; at the Giro d'Italia, he finished sixth in the time trial.

Do you think he's ready for the Bardiani adventure?

I would absolutely say yes. He was already supposed to race with us in the WorldTour team, then the team collapsed and nothing was done. But I think his agent started making moves already at the beginning of the season. The category, in To tell the truth, it was too much for him and so it is right that he went to the ReverberisThey lost two riders (Visconti e Trainini, ed.) and probably accelerated the operation.

One of the biggest problems is communication, especially when they return to Eritrea for a long time. Do you think this could be an obstacle?

I don't think so, it's certainly not easy, but technology has improved a lot over the years. It's true that Eritrea doesn't have internet, but now There is a phone application that allows you to call using the internet connection of the European telephone number..

There are many Eritrean riders living in Italy; are they a united community?

Henok, Natnael, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier and Biniam Ghirmay are very good friends. They often meet together to eat and many times we technicians from Qhubeka also go there.What has been created with these guys is a friendship, almost brotherly. Natnael and Henok often come to our warehouse and stay to talk with the guys from the teamIt won't be uncommon to find them all together at home. They don't have their drivers' licenses yet, so Antonini, one of our masseurs, might drive them around, accompany them to the airport, or even take them grocery shopping.