Two days after his maiden win with NSN Cycling Team, Biniam Girmay showed his strong legs on stage 1 weren’t a once off with another commanding sprint to cross the line in fifth place, the best of the bunch, behind the breakaway that narrowly held off the charging peloton.
It’s no wonder Biniam praised his teammates immediately after the race after a stellar performance from the team all day, starting with Tom Van Asbroeck controlling the early breakaway, before Lewis Askey, Riley Sheehan, Matís Louvel, and Pau Martí kept Biniam safe and well positioned on the day’s climbs, and emptied themselves in pursuit of the quartet that got away after the final climb.
In the end it was a matter of meters and Biniam led the peloton home just four seconds behind winner AJ August (INEOS Grenadiers), which was enough to keep the yellow jersey on equal time with today’s second place holder Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility).
“Today I want to thank my teammates, because they did a super incredible job from the start to the finish,” explained Biniam. “We controlled the race, but, unfortunately, four guys went into the breakaway, and we did all that we could do to catch them. I almost sacrificed everyone until the last moments – it’s just that the other guys in the front were super strong. I would have liked to win this race to finish off the hard work of my teammates but I’m just super happy with my shape right now.”
At the start of the day, Binian wasn’t completely sure he would be sprinting for the win which he takes confidence from ahead of his early season objectives.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to have such good legs,” added Biniam. “I tried to manage my pace [on the climb] and I always go in my own zone. I am here to find the last, let’s say, 10% of my shape, so these are good signs for the upcoming races.”
For Sports Director Dimitri Claeys, today’s performance is a prime example of the foundation the team is looking to establish with Biniam and his teammates.
“The guys worked together, communicated well, and everything went according to plan,” added Claeys. “That was the main objective. Of course, when you’re in a race like this, you want to win the stage, but today the key things for me were teamwork, fighting spirit, and communication – and those were all there. It’s a shame we didn’t win today but what the guys did at the end was really good, even if it only resulted in fifth place. We kept the yellow jersey and that’s a big positive. The team deserves it, and it gives us something to celebrate at the end of the day.”