A year ago, Biniam Girmay sprinter to silver in the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Leuven, but such is his success this season, the 22-year old Eritrean is a dangerous outsider for Sunday’s race and a real concern for major nations like Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
Back in the spring, Girmay outmanoeuvred his Classics rivals and then outsprinted Christophe Laporte, Dries van Gestel and Jasper Stuyven to win Gent-Wevelgem and become the first African rider to win a WorldTour Classic.
At the Giro d’Italia, he beat Mathieu van der Poel in a sprint to win the stage in Jesi after being unafraid to play mind games with the Dutch man and lose on the circuit stage around Naples two days before.
There is a real sense that Girmay could pull off a similar performance in the elite men’s road race on Sunday and even win the world title.
He has raced little since the infamous cork eye injury on the Giro d’Italia podium and a crash at the Tour de Wallonie in late July, further reducing his racing. However he did not ride the Tour de France and so is very fresh and has again trained at altitude at home in Eritrean before his final block of races with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert.
He is on a run of top ten results in a string of one-day races. That includes third at the GP de Québec in Canada and a close second behind Van der Poel at the more recent GP de Wallonie after climbing the Citadelle de Namur.
“I’m super motivated. The World Championships is one the races of the year for me,” Birmay made clear. “I’m getting better and better and now my form is okay. We’ll see on Sunday. I’m ready and so are my teammates. We’re looking forward to the race.”
“Being considered as a contender or favourite boosts my morale but there are two sides to it. After my performances this year, I also know that I won’t get much space. If I move, all eyes will be on me too. But that’s OK.”
Friday’s under-23 road race and Thursday’s training day allowed riders to really understand the difficulties of the 266km Wollongong course and especially the impact of the Mount Pleasant climb and the need for good positioning on the fast roads and many corners. Girmay likes the course.
“We’ve seen the course now and it’s pretty good for me. It’s really nice and I’m happy about the parcours,” Girmay told Bicisport in a video interview.
The distance doesnt scare me
Eritrea has…
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