Biniam Girmay: "As a child I dreamed of one day riding the Tour"

After two months away from competition Biniam Girmay has returned to the peloton at the Brussels Cycling Classic. It was an attacked race where he was part of the action, and he showed good legs ahead of what may be his biggest goal of the season.

“I was able to make the race hard, my legs felt pretty good and I had no problems. All very positive," Girmay told Het Nieuwsblad. "Especially the first two or three weeks after the fall were tough. The wounds didn't want to heal properly, and in the meantime I just lay there. I couldn't do anything. Difficult, especially mentally.”

The Eritrean packed a good sprint but did not depend on it, with two laps of a circuit around the Mur de Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg, he made moves as the race looked to beak apart. Ultimately it came down to a sprint, Girmay sprinted to fourth on the day with Arnaud Démare taking the win.

This is the first race in his preparation for the Tour de France. “And there is still time. The Tour will only start in less than four weeks," he adds, not feeling the pressure. "Of course I have ambition. As a child I dreamed of one day riding the Tour. But first I have to make sure that I can appear at the start in good shape.”

He now travels to Switzerland where the Tour de Suisse will be his main building block towards the Grand Boucle, there he will face the likes of Wout van Aert who will make it quite hard for him to take a victory, but it will be a proper test with several opportunities.

“None of that was super optimal. That is why we are surprised that it was so good here in his first race, team manager Aike Visbeek said. "But at the same time we remain cautious. This is not yet a WorldTour peloton. In July things will be different. Anyway, he's clearly taken a big step. Can he continue to do this in the coming weeks, we will definitely see him in the Tour de France.”