Biniam Girmay has paid his dues: "Pogacar not participating? The entire peloton will be happy about it"

It's nine o'clock in the evening Australian time, but he's still brimming with confidence: Biniam Girmay is ready to leave his disappointing 2023 behind him for good. As part of the media day of Intermarché-Wanty, the Eritrean rider addressed the press present in l'Alfas de Pi via a video connection. "Mentally, I feel completely ready for 2024, which may not have been the case last year."

The contrast could hardly be greater: last year, the global press gathered at the Albir Garden Resort in mid-January just to get the chance to talk to Girmay - even the Olympic channel was there. This time, the African rider had to settle for the two major Flemish outlets, two Walloon outlets and IDLProCycling.com, while joining all the way from Adelaide. "You're only as good as your last race," Girmay laughed during the video call.

He has certainly started the year off well: in the first four stages of the Tour Down Under, he finished in the top ten four times, including a second and third place. "It was discussed in consultation with the team that I would start in Australia," Girmay explained. "The weather here is much better than in Europe. Last year, I started in Mallorca, and due to a storm, we couldn't even train, so I was never really fully prepared. We learned from that. And I've started well now, which is always good for morale."

"However, Sam Welsford is too strong so far," Girmay concludes. "And not just him, but his whole team. On the first day, I felt very good and strong, but my positioning was not ideal. Sprinting like this really requires teamwork. Someday, I hope to have a lead-out train as good as the one Sam has now. Everyone is fighting to be in his wheel, while he only has to sprint for about 200 meters when such a perfect lead-out delivers him to the right position. And that has happened three times now."

After Tour Down Under, Girmay returns to Eritrea to prepare for classics

While his teammates arrived in Oceania on January 5th, Girmay arrived on January 10th. The reason? Christmas. In Eritrea, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, not on December 25th and 26th. "On that day, we all eat together, and then I left for Australia. After my trip Down Under (Girmay will also participate in the Surf Coast Classic and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, ed.), I will return to Eritrea to prepare for the classics at high altitude. I am lucky in that regard. I live at an altitude of 2,400 meters, so I don't have to go to some mountain in Tenerife or elsewhere. It's perfect for me."

Those classics are where it all began for Girmay: in 2022, he won Gent-Wevelgem, and since then, things have progressed very quickly. At the time, he thought he had "just won a Flemish race", but when there was a big celebration that evening and the next day there was a lot of press waiting for him, he realized more and more what had exactly happened to him. "It all happened very quickly. Many riders my age don't get to compete in the big races, and when I look back now, I've learned a lot from it. Last year was a big lesson, but I don't feel pressure from the team, and I don't put that on myself either."

Being in the spotlight also brings on outside pressure, he realizes at the beginning of 2024. "After Gent-Wevelgem, I had so many media requests, interviews, this and that... Everyone knows who you are, and there is pressure from all sides. At times I was relaxed about it, but at other times, like after the crash in Flanders, I felt a bit empty. It's not a big deal, but still: you learn from it. Mentally, I feel more ready now, but still, there's no losing, only learning. Both I myself and the team did exactly that in 2023."

For the Opening Weekend, Girmay will return to Europe, after which he will face Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, the Flemish classics campaign and Paris-Roubaix. He will skip Strade Bianche, and he is on the longlist for the Amstel Gold Race. In the summer, the focus will be on the Tour de France-Olympics double, where he will likely defend Eritrea's honor on his own. "It's a big race, but I will have to ride intelligently."

Girmay relying on power of Teunissen and others in the classics... and is glad that Pogacar won't be there

Girmay already rode the Tour de France last year. He didn't achieve any significant results, but people also seem to forget that completing one's first grand tour is very important. "Watching the Tour on television is great, but riding it is... Something else. I wasn't bad, but we had an incredible amount of bad luck as a team. Me myself, and my lead-out as well. All those things didn't go quite right, but in the end, I finished my first grand tour relatively well. I learned a lot from it," Girmay reflects on that now.

For now, the Intermarché-Wanty leader is primarily focused on the spring races, where he didn't shine last year. "That's also why we made some adjustments. I am training and cycling only in good weather now, so I haven't had to skip anything yet. And I can rely on a good group around me. Mike Teunissen has the experience and power, but there's also Madis Mikhels, Laurenz Rex and Hugo Page. Those guys are my age, but they are incredibly strong."

However, the team did lose some experience because of the departure of Löic Vliegen (usually Girmay's roommate), Aimé De Gendt and Sven Erik Bystrom. "That may be true, but I trust that we will be ready with a strong group. For example, Mike and I couldn't bring out the best in each other last year. He got sick, I had a fall... But towards the end of the year, we were able to ride some really good races together. I have good communication with him, even about family and preparation. Hopefully, we will see that again this year in the spring."

With Tadej Pogacar not participating in races like the E3 Saxo Classic and the Tour of Flanders, the style of racing might indeed be different since the Slovenian had a habit of pushing hard on climbs like the Oude Kwaremont. Girmay laughs when confronted with this observation. "You can ask this question to the entire peloton... Since he started competing, everything has changed. I also enjoy tough races, and Pogacar brings a lot of emotion to a race, even among the fans. He is an incredibly friendly guy, and it's a shame he won't be there in the spring, but the entire peloton will be happy that he's not participating, haha."

While Pogacar won't be there, the Eritrean fans will be. Wherever Girmay goes, a whole horde of fans follows him. Doesn't that bring a certain kind of pressure? "I love those fans. Without fans, it's nothing. They give me a lot of strength," says Girmay, who also sees the other side of the medal. "If I finish second now, they are not happy. That's great, but it also brings pressure. It comes from all sides. In Eritrea, they literally say that I have to win every day. Even when there's a mountain stage on the agenda. They want me to win, always. It only adds to my morale, but sometimes I have to laugh when I read things like that," concludes Girmay, who visibly exudes more strength and vigor than he generally did last year.