Teunissen clears up potential Girmay irritation: "Who am I to say what he should do?"

Things are going well for Mike Teunissen. The Christian father of beautiful twins is currently juggling two fronts: physically on the bike and mentally at home with his wife and children. So it's no small feat that after the Figueira Champions Classic, Tour of the Algarve, and the Opening Weekend, he was already heading towards Tirreno-Adriatico. IDLProCycling.com spoke with him there about racing as a father, performing without his best preparation, and his comments about Biniam Girmay after Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

"Things are going well, I think, I hope," Teunissen laughs when we inquire about his family in the Netherlands. "It's challenging to be here, but on the other hand, we knew this was going to happen when we started. I would love to be at home, but I also have to work. It's definitely not easy at home, especially when the father is away. But we receive a lot of help, so it's not easy, but manageable."

Teunissen skipped a team training camp over the winter but obviously needs to ramp up his training in the upcoming weeks to be in peak form for the classics. "I'm pleasantly surprised," he remarks about his two 13th-place finishes in the Omloop and Kuurne. "If I compare my hours and schedules with previous years, it's significantly less. Workouts I wouldn't have imagined, less sleep, and you're left exhausted from all sides. However, it also provides energy, that must be it then."

According to the now 31-year-old Dutchman, "there is still some room for improvement." "I'm not disappointed with how things are going now. How much room? That remains to be seen, but it seems to me that you can push harder if you train better. That's the essence of this sport. I hope I can still make some gains, whether it's a tenth of a percent or a whole percent, we'll find out in the coming weeks."

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Teunissen glad Girmay is coming to Belgium (and even if he's not)

In recent weeks, Teunissen has been frequently racing alongside Girmay, the rising star of Intermarché-Wanty and the team's primary leader. It's not without reason that Teunissen indicated last winter that after a few promising results in 2023, he would have his own opportunities but would support Girmay in the classics and sprints. "So the plan is also to support Bini in Sanremo, even after my strong Opening Weekend. He's our leader, and he's also in good form. So that remains our approach."

Now that we've addressed the topic of Girmay, it's time to clarify something. Did we correctly perceive that Teunissen seemed somewhat irked after Kuurne when questions arose about his Eritrean teammate? "He doesn't have WhatsApp in Africa, so I don't actually communicate with him when he's there," he mentioned, among other things, adding, "I've been hearing for two years now that he's going to move to Belgium, so I'm curious when that's really going to happen."

On that note, there's already an update: "He's indeed planning to move to Belgium, that's the intention. But even if that doesn't materialize, we'll spend more time together in a hotel than at home," Teunissen explains, emphasizing that he harbors no irritation towards Girmay. "He has to follow his own path; who am I to dictate what he should do? During the winter, we didn't communicate much, but that was also because I had a lot on my plate and he was in Eritrea. Now, we're in frequent communication, and after Tirreno, I'll be staying with him in Italy for another week. In the following weeks, we'll also be together a lot. So the nuance is that during the winter, our contact was limited, but now it's quite the opposite."