While taking second in a sprint would be seen as a disappointment for many riders throughout their careers, Biniam Girmay took the positives from finishing best of the rest in Saturday’s Paris-Nice stage.
Having already been shortened yesterday evening because of snow and freezing conditions at the initial summit finish at Auron, today’s seventh stage was then cut from 120.4km to 47km owing to torrential rain.
Although the final parcours opened it up to sprinters, conditions along the route from the outskirts of Nice to Isola Village still made for an unpleasant 61 minutes and 48 seconds of racing.
Biniam finished just behind home rider Dorian Godon (IGD) to record his best result of the week, marking the team’s second podium after Lewis Askey’s third place in Friday’s stage.
“I think it was 10 out of 10 cold – I could not get colder than this,” says Biniam. “But today is the best result I have had in these conditions.
“I was just on the limit. It was a shit day to ride a bike, but I am getting better in this weather, as I am not used to it. So, second place – I think we just need to be happy with this.”
With the road gradually rising in the final kilometers, Biniam was kept out of trouble on treacherous roads by Tom Van Asbroeck and Ryan Mullen. His finishing speed meant that he almost got the better of Godon, but beat the likes of Cees Bol, Laurence Pithie, and Luke Lamperti.
He adds: “The team did quite a nice one-hour ride. We were always in the front and under control. At the finish, I think everybody was just freezing, but they dropped me in a good position.”