"I'm now dealing with a disappointed and angry Biniam" - Aike Visbeek insight into Girmay's disappointment after Tour sprint, Philipsen's possible relegation and sprint safety

Biniam Girmay sprinted to third on yesterday's Tour de France flat finale in Bordeaux, however reactions were far from good. Although a good result, the Eritrean was left frustrated by almost colliding with the barriers and Jasper Philipsen's sketchy sprint. Aike Visbeek was quite vocal with the situation, after Philipsen was not relegated in the end.

"Our sprinter couldn't make his sprint, and he came third. That hurts. However, we would not have made much progress with a disqualification from Philipsen, but the fence is now over with the sprinters," team performance manager Aike Visbeek told NOS. "Biniam hit the fence with his shoe, fortunately it just ended well. This is not safe sprinting. He (Jasper Philipsen, ed.) is the best sprinter at the moment, with the best lead-out. He can go straight and then my question is: why don't you go straight?"

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"We talk a lot about safety, and now three sprints are something to criticize. I'm now dealing with a disappointed and angry Biniam, who thinks: 'oh, does it have to be like this?'" Girmay told reporters at the finish that "this is part of sprinting, that's how it always goes" however within the team bus he shows himself more disappointed with the situation.

"He says something different than to me. The fact that he says nothing stems from last year's Giro. Last year he said something about Mathieu van der Poel and he was then portrayed as a bad boy in the media, so from that moment on he decided not to say anything about colleagues anymore," Visbeek added.

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