Intermarché coach impressed by Biniam Girmay's younger brother Mewael: "After rides of 200 kilometers he was not much slower than Biniam in the sprint"
Cycling
Partly thanks to the successes of his big brother Biniam Girmay, the relatively unknown Mewael Girmay has managed to secure a contract with Wanty-ReUz-Technord, the training team of World Tour formation Intermarché - Wanty. The 19-year-old brother of the new winner of the green jersey started racing three years ago, inspired by the success of his big brother and the Tour de France.
"Biniam played a role in his arrival, we are not going to lie about that," the U23 team director Kévin Van Melsen told Het Nieuwsblad. "Biniam asked if there was room for his brother and then we started analyzing." Van Melsen was immediately impressed. "He's not just in the team because he's Biniam's brother. He has potential and that's why he's getting his chance. The values and wattages we received were very good."
In terms of morphology, he is very similar to his brother. "He goes along quite well when it is a bit hilly. I am very curious to see how far he can go, because I think he can be an excellent sprinter."
His debut on European soil was not without its problems. In his very first race he got hypothermia. Shortly after his arrival in Belgium, Mewael broke his collarbone. After his return from the injury, Mewael returned to action with a solid top-25 result at U23 Eschborn-Frankfurt, before returning home for the Eritrean championships, where he came fourth, even ahead of his older brother.
He also impressed the coach in training. "Rein (Taaramae, ed.) said after that internship that Mewael was really very impressive. After rides of 200 kilometers he was not much slower than Biniam in the sprint."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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🇪🇷 🥉 Biniam Girmay (TT) 🇪🇷 🥇 Aklilu Arefayne (U23 TT) 🇪🇷 🥈 Aklilu Arefayne (RR) 🇪🇷 🥇 Aklilu Arefayne (U23 RR) 🇪🇷 🥈 Mewael Girmay (U23 RR) 🇪🇪 🥇 Rein Taaramäe (TT) 🇧🇪 🥉 Rune Herregodts (TT) 🇮🇹 🥈 Lorenzo Rota (RR) Our riders won 8 medals in the national championships 👏
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