"Bini is better than me in every way" - Mike Teunissen praises leader Biniam Girmay

Mike Teunissen took his first professional victory since 2019 last month at Tour of Norway, giving the Dutch cyclist optimism coming into Tour de France. Teunissen will be a key member of Intermarché-Wanty-Circus' sprint train around Biniam Girmay.

"I hope I can take it one step further and I feel really good, but you know what it is? You can feel good during training, but then another Wout van Aert comes along and then you know what time it is," says Teunissen to In de Leiderstrui. "Who is no longer under any illusions in terms of individual performance in the coming months. "Bini is better than me in every way, it's as simple as that."

Read also

Final startlist Tour de France with BIB | Vingegaard, Pogacar, Cavendish, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Bernal, Pidcock, Sagan and Girmay

"I indeed talked about it with the team: when you are new, you want to make your mark," explains Teunissen, who was brought in as important rider for classics and sprints. “I didn't come here just to take a ride. They don't expect that from me and I don't expect that from myself either. Then it is also nice to come out better now than at classics."

"It's been a while now since we've ridden together, because of course he had a concussion and has been to Eritrea. The cooperation could be even better, but we will fine-tune that in the coming period. Things can still improve."

Read also

Chris Froome on why he was not chosen towards Tour de France: "I was unable to show my full ability at the races assigned to me due to equipment issues"

Route Analysis | Profiles & Route Tour de France 2023