"I am gradually reaching my best form" - Biniam Girmay ambitious ahead of Milano-Sanremo and spring classics

Biniam Girmay rode to 12th place at Milano-Sanremo in 2022. The Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider is an outsider for this year's edition, and as he prepares for the Italian monument and the cobbled classics he believes that he's close to reaching his best level.

“Tirreno-Adriatico has made me a little better again. I hope that I am gradually reaching my best form. I'm getting better every day," Girmay told Het Laatste Nieuws. “It is one of the big goals for me and the team. It's just an unpredictable course. It is the easiest monument to win and at the same time it is very difficult. You can't say in advance that you have to do it this way or that way. You just don't know. Don't forget that this is also only my second year.”

The 22-year old took a win early in the year at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, and has then travelled back home to Eritrea for a training block and time with his family. He's planned things differently this year, despite the visa restrictions he's had he will this spring be able to ride the whole cobbled classics calendar. He returned to competition at the Trofeo Laigueglia, and then Tirreno-Adriatico where he finished close to the winner on two occasions.

Now, after racing Milano-Torino, he prepares for the next big goal ahead: Milano-Sanremo. “In general, it's about choosing position. And of course also around the legs, but you definitely have to be smart," he says of the Italian monument. "You have to take some risks on the descent: that's part of it if you want to win a race of that caliber. And you need to know which rider to follow. You don't know that in advance, you have to see that for yourself on the day.”

The race will be tough for sprinters like him, however he's proven his climbing capacity in the past. On such efforts, Girmay is far from being a modest rider, and could under the right circumstances find himself in the battle for the victory of his first monuments.

“Even very strong riders are sometimes badly positioned and then you waste a lot of energy moving up. You must be able to read the correct moves. Pogi is also there. With him there it is a different race, that was also the case last year," he admits. "His team already started the race on the Cipressa, they will not wait until the Poggio.”