Back to racing, and back on the podium again: Biniam Girmay’s preparations for the Tour de France continued on Sunday as he sprinted to third at Brussels Cycling Classic, his first competitive outing in nearly two months.
Biniam showed promising signs following an extensive training block in Tenerife as he recorded his seventh top-five finish of the season, which already includes wins at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana and Clásica de Almería.
Biniam says: “We did a really good race today, especially until the last part of the climbs. We tried to control things and the team did a great job, so thanks to my teammates — it was really a nice effort.
“I think the sprint was very fast. I just missed a bit of my kick today – I’ve been at altitude for almost one month, climbing a lot, so I didn’t quite have the top speed. I tried my best, but Jordi was the fastest today. I have to be happy with third place.”
With the Tour de France starting in just under four weeks’ time, Biniam believes he is on track to hit top form in time for the sport’s biggest race.
“Preparation for the Tour has been more or less the same, just in a different place,” he says. “Before, I used to go to Eritrea and then train at altitude where you can still work on speed. This year, the terrain was mostly up and down. There’s still a long way to the Tour, and I’m building my condition step by step.
“Today was good. I felt really comfortable during the race, especially on the climbs. Like I said, I just missed the final kick, but that will come soon. The most important thing is that I felt good over more than 200 kilometers, which is not an easy race.”