‘I know my potential’ - Biniam Girmay surveys the repaved road ahead

Biniam Girmay cuts through the crowd and the peloton at the Tour de France Saitama Criterium in the green jersey, a newly minted but unassuming star attraction at the event that showcases the powerhouses of the French Grand Tour half a world away from its 21 stages. 

It’s certainly not a position the Intermarché Wanty rider expected to be in at the start of 2024 but as the Eritrean quickly discovered that claiming three victories and the green jersey at the Tour de France can change everything, even if at the same time it also changes nothing.

The 'everything' is the perception, recognition, confidence and opportunities that come with success at the race that transcends cycling, but the 'nothing' is more fundamental.

"Personally, myself it doesn't change anything,” Girmay earlier this month told Cyclingnews in Saitama, where he would soon be a fitting victor at the event which delivered an exhibition of Tour de France talent to Japan. “Also in my team, it doesn't change anything. You know we have worked for three-and-a-half years already and they know me really well. I also know them.“

Though beyond that grounding core, the world has shifted on its axis for the Eritrean. Even though he has long had a hub of support on the side of the road wherever he has gone, with his Gent-Wevelgem victory in 2022 in particular lifting his prominence, but his Tour de France achievements have shifted him into an entirely different realm.

“Even at home, in my country, some people they only know the Tour. To win stages in the Tour and to win a green jersey, you have support all around the world so for me, I feel like this has changed a lot,” said Girmay, recounting the fan messages he has received from far afield that even included countries he’d never heard of before. “It shows, you know, that people understand how hard it is to win at the Tour, and also how important is for cycling.”

It’s no surprise that Girmay has captured the imagination of many and is hard not to find endearing. The forceful, calculating style of a rider who has to negotiate the often chaotic sprints to the line is nowhere to be seen as Girmay moves through the peloton, media events and crowds – unassuming, gracious and quick with a friendly but reserved smile.

He certainly seemed to win over the room full of Japanese journalists after claiming the Saitama criterium. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) may have been the much admired record-breaking star turn but – perhaps due to his reluctance at that point to talk about his future –  it was a relatively short media conference for the Manxman. 

However, the questions just kept coming for Girmay, who exuded enthusiasm and gratitude, showing appreciation for the swathe of fans that had stood out in the rain to cheer the riders on, respect for his rivals and also for his interviewers, concluding with a polite arigato – thank you in Japanese – when organisers decided it was time to wrap up the lengthy discourse. 

Girmay looked every bit a beacon for the future of the race as the rider took a taste of the Tour de France to a nation, which like Eritrea, is also vastly underrepresented in a WorldTour that is 95% White.

Setting the path with a victory that wasn't meant to be

That first Tour de France victory on stage 3 of the 2024 race was never in the plan for Girmay in a year which certainly hadn't followed the mapped out path up until then either. Things started out reasonably as the rider sought to rediscover the momentum of 2022, when Girmay won both Gent-Wevelgem and a Giro d'Italia stage.

An early start in Australia delivered two podium places at the WorldTour starter of the Santos Tour Down Under and a Surf Coast Classic win. It was then a reasonable, but podium free run through the Classics until a crash at the Tour of Flanders brought an early end to the campaign. After that it was all about recovering and rebuilding for the Grand Tours.

"To be honest, my big goal was the Giro because I prepared so well, and all the team support was for me at that time," said Girmay as he continued to reflect on his season. "Before the Giro, I felt super strong, more than before the Tour, because I did, like for a month, an altitude camp and everything was perfect, going smooth, and the shape was super, super good. Then unfortunately the crash happened."

It was after proving the strength of his sprinting form with a podium on stage 3, that Girmay had to abandon the Italian Grand Tour on stage 4 when he crashed not just once, but twice, within the space of six kilometres.

After that Girmay turned his attention to the Tour de France, collecting a victory on the road to it at the Circuit Franco-Belge. In France Intermarché Wanty was planning to chase stage wins with two sprinters, Gerben Thijssen and Girmay.

"My plan was to be kind of lead out on the really flat stage, and then in the hilly stages, also they will go for me. So that means, actually, like, from the second week, it was more less good for me," Girmay said.

Though the year continued to deviate from the plan. On stage 3, when Girmay was slated as a lead out for Thijssen, the run to the finish took an unexpected turn when a crash alongside caused the teammates to lose contact. As a result, the message that came crackling through the radio to Girmay was "Okay, focus on yourself and try to do your best". 

"And all of a sudden, you know, I just find myself in the perfect position, and I don't know why. I just felt super, super good," said Girmay. "When I started sprinting my mind is somewhere you cannot explain now, because like I said, it's not my plan – my plan is to just give lead out and there is no stress. Because for me, my job is just to to do good lead out. I don't care if I win or I lose, because it's not my job on that day. But yeah, when I won at that stage, it's like things changed completely."

"I felt super confident. My team, also, they were super happy. Everybody was motivated."

And from there, things got even better.

That victory that wasn't meant to be, set Girmay off on a whole new path. He moved into the green jersey after stage 5, a second place followed on stage 6 and then in the second week of racing he swept up two more stage victories and another runner-up spot before securing the points classification by holding firm through the third week and right through to the final day of the Tour in Nice. 

With that, there was no question that the 24-year-old rider from the Belgian squad with the smallest budget on the WorldTour was the most successful sprinter of the 2024 edition of the world's premier cycling race.

Girmay and his team had not only recaptured the rhythm of 2022 but in July they also added a whole new beat. So where does that leave the plans for 2025? Is the rider who kicked off the most important winning roll of his career so far with a victory when the pressure was off now feeling the weight of expectation given the 2024 Tour de France performance?

"It's another pressure," Girmay concedes. "But I have some good people around me, so we try to handle it and to manage well, so it's not a big deal. The good side is it gives you a lot of strength and confidence for the future."

Girmay has already learnt through experience that a breakthrough success doesn't mean the trajectory will then necessarily be immediately all uphill, with his Classics win in 2022 a case in point. However, the rider has clearly continued to build, gain experience and put the building blocks in place to feed further success.

When we spoke to him early this month his plans weren't yet finalised for 2025 but two targets were clear, first the Classics and then he will head to the Tour de France where this time he will undoubtedly line up with all eyes turned on him given his 2024 sprint success.

"I mean I know where I come from … I know what I need to do, so I know my potential but I don't want to expect, like to win five stages," said Girmay in response to a question about whether this year's Tour de France success changes his aspirations for 2025. "For me I don't care if I win two stages for next year, or one stage or I don't win green. I already got what I never even dreamed of before," he said. "I just want to work hard, enjoy my bike and if you work hard, for sure it always pays off ... I believe in that so it's not, I would say, crazy expectations for myself."