Biniam Girmay: "The World Championships is the goal of the year"

Biniam Girmay's debut at the Elite World Championships is highly anticipated, and after finishing in second place last year in Leuven at under-23 level, he once again promises expectations of a medal in what is for some the biggest event of the year.

"The World Championships is the goal of the year, but I focus on it just as much as all the other competitions I ride. I rode many similar World Tour races, like in Canada, but my coach also let me train for five to seven hours a few times," he told Het Nieuwsblad. The Eritrean has focused his second half of the season in the Worlds, having shown his best result of the period recently at the GP de Québec where he finished only behind Michael Matthews in the reduced bunch sprint. Having the climbing and sprinting skills, he will - alongside the likes of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Michael Matthews - be a rider that will need to be distanced by those looking to attack. 

“I can't do anything without everyone watching me," he said of his possible tactics in the race. Due to the points he's piled up this year, he'll have five teammates to support him throughout the race. "We are six, all professionals. And everyone is in shape. It's just not up to us to check or color the course. I think we should approach it a little more tactically, like last year in Leuven," he explained.

“If we are left with one or two riders in the final, we have to make the right choices. Natnael Tesfatsion, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier and Henok Mulubrhan have already proven that they can handle a long race. I expect them to be able to give me water bottles until the last two laps, put them out of the wind and bring me to the front every now and then. That would be perfect. Then it's up to me," he said. To face the likes of the names mentioned before, adding to Tadej Pogacar, Julian Alaphilippe and many more will be a complicated task, one however that the Gent-Wevelgem winner is up to.

He was asked about the favourites for the race, and he has made up a clear list. “I will put Van Aert at number one. Behind it Michael Matthews, who can race in his own country and gets a course that suits him. And Mathieu van der Poel is always there too. That type of riders is a favorite everywhere," he said, pointing out the fast men as the biggest threats.